The Right Path
by acetalon
Summary: Ranma/Sailormoon/Zeiram crossover. Matchup is imminent. Ranma struggles as a minor Mercurian noble to find out what is happening in the Silver Millenium, and why he got caught in the middle of it.
1. Default Chapter

The Right Path  
by AceTalon  
  
Disclaimer: This fic isn't to make money, all titles are made by their   
respective authors.  
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi  
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi  
Iria Zeiram by Keita Amemiya  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
  
Kael was a young soldier under the command of Queen Serenity of  
the Silver Millenium. He wasn't particularly fond of fighting, nor the  
kind of junk a soldier had to suffer through to obtain their positions,  
if they climbed the ladder in rank. He didn't even want to do this.   
He did it because he needed the money, that and his parents were making  
him. What he really wanted to be was a scholar, someone who did   
something to further the technology of the Silver Millenium, not waste  
time marching back and forth endlessly for no purpose. No one in the   
world would dare attack the queen, especially in her city. And here he  
was, guarding some stupid passage that probably hadn't been used in   
a couple centuries. He sighed and leaned on his spear.  
  
"Why are they making me guard some stupid corridor in the  
palace?" Kael grumbled. "I should be home studying for a professional  
job! Not out here lounging around looking out for enemies of the   
queen, which don't even exist in this time and era. The Silver   
Milenium has no enemies!"  
  
While the man ranted on and on about his bad fortune, he did   
not take the time to look around him and decipher why something felt   
wrong.  
  
A figure stood in the darkness, watching him. Waiting for him  
to drop him guard sufficiently. Then, with the quickness of a snake,   
it struck.  
  
Kael saw in the corner of his eye some movement, but it wasn't   
enough. He screamed and tried to bring his spear up to bear. The   
creature saw this and slapped the spear away with ease, as if it wasn't  
even there. It gave a high pitched squealing laugh. Kael watched in   
horror. How did it make that sound? It didn't even have facial   
features on its head! He backed up and looked at it again. No, he   
was wrong. There was a small white head on its forehead, and it was  
smiling.   
  
"What the hell?!" he shrieked. He tried to run away, to call   
for help. Someone had to know this thing had infiltrated the palace!  
  
The monster calmly reached into its cape and drew a bola. He   
swung it around his head a couple times before letting it fly.   
  
Kael looked over his shoulder and saw death wrap around his   
legs. He fell clumsily. Frantically he tore at the metal string,   
trying to unwrap it. Death's grip, however, would not loosen so   
easily. He looked up and cringed in terror and revulsion. The   
creature grabbed his face, to muffle his voice, but even that was   
unnecessary. In these halls of old, these silent catacombs, no one  
could hear a scream.   
  
The creature, otherwise known as Zeiram, finished with the   
body, leaving only a suit of armor as any sign of someone being there.  
The Zeiram had many plans for this civilization, this 'Silver   
Millenium'. And he knew just how to do it. Reaching into his clothes,  
he brought out a flower-like organic bulb that pulsed with life. This   
little creature was his key to destroying the civilization. Now to look  
for a suitable place to put it and let it grow, let it influence. He   
needed minds, minds of the highest caliber. Minds with intelligence,   
with skills. To do that, he would have to search the whole  
galaxy. And what easier way was there to search then in times of   
trouble, where unexpected disapearances raise no questions?  
  
********************************  
  
History is written by the victor  
  
********************************  
  
Uriko paced back and forth in the fairly luxuriant room. Where was  
that son of hers? He was supposed to be here a half hour ago!   
If he was out partying again there's no telling what she would do. If   
he was out again late, then he might, he might.  
  
She shook her head. There was no way that her darling, innocent boy  
was engaging in such questionable acts! He was pure, well mannered,   
and was always polite. But, if he was pure, then it might be that  
much easier for those harlots at his school to...to...  
  
The door opened, and in stepped Uriko's son. He was of average height,  
black-haired youth with bright blue eyes. At 16, he was just old   
enough to start doing things that were considered 'mature' and that's   
all Uriko could think of at that moment.  
  
"Ranma, do you know how late you are?" Uriko demanded, walking up to   
face him.  
  
Ranma closed the door and faced his mother. "What's it this time,   
mother?" he asked himself tiredly. "Have I shamed my mother somehow?  
Did I go accidentally soil the house's reputation? What now?"  
  
For some unfathomable reason, Ranma could only guess, his mother Uriko  
had this constant fear that her son had done something stupid. Well,   
maybe he had sometimes, but no one really cared about his social   
standings, himself included. He was just some obscure noble that had   
his position because of his father. Well, back to what his mom Uriko  
was saying.  
  
"Did you have sex?"  
  
"...what? Where the hell did you get that idea?!" He shouted   
at her. Recently his mom's mind was always in the gutter! "No, I   
didn't have sex!"  
  
"Really, you didn't go with any of those, those harlots from   
your school? You should only have sex once you get married!"  
  
"Mom! There are no girls at school that I'd ever wanna go   
out with!"  
  
"Really, so you don't have any sort of relation with anyone   
from your school right-"  
  
"NO!" How could his mom even suggest such things? Even after  
she suggested something totally different before.  
  
"Well, thats good to know," she said briskly. She left pretty  
quickly after that.  
  
Ranma groaned in exasperation. Why did she ask him to come   
home so soon? Just to ask him if he was fooling around with someone?  
It was kind of strange, to know that your mom was shallow. It was   
even stranger that she was asking him if he was having sex because she   
kept shoving girls in his face, asking him if he wanted to marry any of   
them. He always would respond with "I'm too young to get married,"   
but he knew that an excuse that weak wouldn't be able to hold her off   
for long. He left the house before his mom got anymore strange ideas.  
  
  
Ranma looked at the garden under his house. His home sat on a  
hill overlooking a small garden that the family owned. To anyone not   
from the planet mercury, the garden might look rather drab and   
colorless, but to the inhabitants of the planet it was a well-kept   
garden that had quite a nice variety. It was much like the inhabitants  
of the town to Ranma's thinking. Bland, colorless, and completely   
boring. He ignored the scenery of the garden. He needed some action,  
something fun. He needed to get his mind off his dull existence.  
  
He was Ranma Saotome. Nothing special about him. He   
came from a long line of nobles, nothing special. His mom was a   
pervert and his dad, well, he was one too. To each their own, just in   
this case both 'owns' were peverted.   
  
What was there to do to get his mind off the boredom of  
everyday life? All he ever did was go to school, hear the gossip,   
and work out with some friends at the activity center. Besides that,   
and fending off his mother, there wasn't much else. What he really   
wanted to do was to learn to fight, to use a sword, but his mother  
refused to allow any sort of weapons instructor into their home.  
  
"It's unnecessary and crude," she had said, before adding that   
once he got married to a rich and powerful woman he could hire guards  
to do that sort of thing.  
  
His mother didn't understand anything. He didn't want to   
learn to fight to protect them, though that could be a very good   
reason, he wanted to do it was because it excited him. To see the   
knights of the queen spar with weapons sent a chill down his spine.   
They had the power to make a difference. To know how to fight. What   
did he have? A family name, thats all. Not even an important one.   
  
Ranma sighed. He needed to get to school. That just reminded   
him of what his mom asked him a few minutes ago. He hadn't even gotten  
out of bed when she called for him and she accused him of sleeping with  
someone! He shook his head and entered the school courtyard.  
  
*************************************  
  
At the Queen's Court, Queen Serenity and her advisors, along   
with the Queens of each planet in the solar system, otherwise known as  
the Senshi, held a meeting. They each exchanged pleasantries with each  
other, until one decided to get the meeting going.  
  
"My Queen," Luna said. "We must do something about the rabble  
that has sprouted from the planets. The peasants are starting to   
become more violent and have started forming rebel groups. They may   
soon become a problem if we do nothing about it."  
  
Jupiter added to the argument.  
  
"What the queen's advisor says is true, I have witnessed  
first-hand one of these terrorist groups brought to justice. When the   
guards questioned them, all that they answered was that they fought   
for the Silver Millenium.  
  
"Just another bunch of fanatics," laughed Venus. "Besides,   
they're off the streets now, right?"  
  
"There's always garbage like them in the cities," Mars  
said in contempt. "Just kill them and be done with it."  
  
"That would not be wise," stated Mercury. "If the   
rebels are killed, then others will follow. However, if they can be   
'convinced'-"  
  
"What, you mean brainwash them? Why take the effort?" Mars   
asked, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Because by, as you so crudely state it, 'brainwashing,' we can  
show the masses that we have convinced poor thoughtless beggars who had  
no idea what was going on, that the we ARE the Silver Millenium."   
Mercury was clearly irritated at Mars' bluntness.  
  
"Why show? We already know we are. If they don't know that   
yet they deserve to die."   
  
"You know rumors say that the rebel factions did not stem from  
the peasants?" Venus felt that this was getting off topic, and that  
things needed to be said. "It started because of that damned killer  
that has been travelling all throughout the solar system, killing those  
that have been reportedly the best of the best." Mercury gave a   
mocking laugh.  
  
"Ridiculous!" Chuckled Mercury. "For one thing, this killer   
that you talk about is very recent gossip. I wouldn't even deign  
to pay it any attention unless it continues for another couple years or so.   
How could he travel from planet to planet so quickly as to attract the  
attention of the whole solar system?"  
  
"Still, if these rumors are true, none of our scientists,   
scholars, or magicians are safe. The minds that aided in our achieving  
the greatness that the Silver Millenium is at now will be taken.   
People will fear, no, reject any attempt to stand out in terror of this.  
That then? Is our progress to stop only now?" Serenity held her hand   
out, interrupting Venus.  
  
"You gossip far too much for your own good, Queen Venus,"   
Serenity said. "You speculate much, but have little concrete evidence  
on this matter." Luna cleared her throat.  
  
"I believe we should bring our attention to the matter at   
hand," She said. "This killer can wait, the peasant class however,   
can not. We need to teach them their place. They must learn to   
respect us, no matter the way it is done."  
  
The Outer Senshi stayed silent, this issue was pointless to   
them, and Serenity noticed.  
  
"Do you three have anything to say about this matter?"  
  
"No my queen, we do not," Said Saturn softly. "I handle the   
peasants of my planet quickly and efficiently, there have been no   
uprisings."  
  
"Care to elaborate on your methods?"  
  
"My queen, you would not care to use them on your own planet,   
the moon," Saturn stated with cold finality, and none of the Senshi   
argued her point. They knew, even though Serenity asked, what kinds of  
methods Saturn used. Her skills at torturing was said to be on par   
with her skill at destroying a planet. Saturn gave a smile, shaped in   
such a way that it looked like an upside down half crescent, dipped her   
head low in such a way that no one could see her eyes. Everyone in the  
assembly unconsciously shivered. She knew exactly how to keep them on   
their toes. Serenity turned to the last two.   
  
"Uranus, Neptune?"  
  
"No, your majesty, we do not," they replied in hushed voices.  
  
Serenity looked to the last seat, where one Senshi should have   
been but never was.  
  
"My queen, why bother giving Pluto a seat at the assembly?   
Contrary to your direct order, she has not come to a single meeting you  
have called for," Jupiter said.  
  
"Changes happen," Serenity replied. "She cannot afford to   
miss many more meetings if she is to control the Gates of Time. We   
must know what is to come, and if she will not tell us, there must be   
a new Senshi of Time appointed."  
  
"So what is your decision concerning the peasants, Majesty?"   
asked Luna tentatively.  
  
"Kill them or brainwash them, it is up to you to decide.   
Personally I don't care if you send them into that traitor Beryl's   
dimension."  
  
"And what should we do about this monster rumor?"  
  
"Give out a public announcement. This rumor about a body   
snatching monster is completely unfounded. Anyone found spreading such  
rumors shall be arrested on charges of disturbing the peace of the   
galaxy. That is all."  
  
**************************************************************  
  
"Ranma, your late," the teacher said without emotion. "Go   
outside." He pointed to the door without taking his eyes off the   
lesson book. Ranma moved his mouth wordlessly. What was the old fart  
talking about? He was here on time! Grumbling he picked up his bag   
and left the room. The rest of the students didn't even blink, but   
sat there waiting for the teacher to get on with his lesson.   
  
There was something strange going on. Ranma seemed to be the   
only one who noticed. Everyone was turning...well...cold. Both   
figuratively and literally. Although it wasn't hard to be cold on a   
planet that was winter through most of the year. He didn't have many   
friends. On this planet known for producing some of the greatest  
scholars the galaxy has ever known, someone like him who had seemingly  
only mediocre skills in the area of study was looked down upon. Ranma   
longed to travel, to do something exciting! Not skulk around libraries  
all day and open dusty books with inane speeches of nonsense and   
poetic crap. To travel to other planets, to fight some enemy of the   
galaxy, to do something that would make a difference!  
  
He took the stairs, taking the stairs at the opposite end each   
time he went down a flight.  
  
"I wasn't meant for this," he thought. "Going to school,   
listening to the droning of the teacher, getting sent to the hall, and   
getting jerked one way or another by my parents. I gotta get out of   
this stupid place, away from this life."  
  
He had reached the bottom of the school by this time and was   
opening the door when a hand tapped his shoulder.  
  
"Hey sonny, watcha doin?" Ranma spun, his heart racing. When   
he saw it was just the janitor, he sighed in relief. For a moment he   
thought that he'd been caught by the principal. It was said the guy   
stalked the halls during class and beat up students that were late or   
ditching.  
  
"Hey George," Ranma raised his hand to greet the older guy.   
  
"Seems like your troubled about something," George leaned on   
his mop. "Why don't ya tell me about it."  
  
Ranma sat down on the stairs that led up to the school. "I   
dunno, I'm not, well, satisfied with whats going on."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, like why are you doing this janitor work? Why not do   
something more, I don't know, important? Don't you ever feel that   
you were meant to do something bigger?"  
  
"Well, boy, I think my job here is pretty important." He   
smiled slightly.  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Well, I'm helping the next generation."  
  
"How?" Ranma didn't understand. How was doing janitor work   
helping the next generation? He looked up and the grinning George.  
  
"Its not the work I'm talking about." That old janitor had a   
twinkle in his eye. "Its about talking to people about their problems.  
Like a school counciller, only...different."  
  
"Huh? Then...what?"  
  
"I look for people like you who...don't seem to fit in."  
  
"How the hell does anyone 'fit in' in this damn school?   
Everyone's cold as marble here! With the exception of my parents,   
who try to force me to do something peverted one way or another, I'd be  
surprised if anyone in this damn town could express a shred of   
emotion." Ranma exploded. His clenched his fist at the bottled up   
emotions that he'd felt for almost his whole life was let out,   
expressed in those few sentences.   
  
"Exactly my point, sonny. Only a couple people ever think   
something isn't right, and your one of them." George made some   
half-hearted swipes with his mop while he spoke. "I've noticed that   
these people are the ones with the greatest impact on history too."  
  
"George, you've lost me there. What are you talking about?"  
Ranma was genuinely confused. Fitting in was a bad thing? History?  
  
George the janitor gave a fake sigh. "Ok, lets start from the   
beginning."  
  
"When did we ever start?" George looked at him and shrugged.  
  
"Good question. Sometime that I've been talking to you, but  
just bear with me here Ranma."  
  
"...ok, whatever."   
  
"First of all, you feel that life isn't the way it should be,  
right?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"What do you find is out of place?"  
  
"Everyone is just so...well...cold. No one ever expresses any   
sort of emotion. Besides my parents, you, and a few friends, this   
whole town feels like a graveyard. Its been this way for my entire   
life, even as a child! The last time I even hinted at this behavior to  
someone I was given depression medicine from a doctor who didn't even   
know what was wrong with me. You still following me George?"  
  
"Yes, but lets take this more to a global scale. You follow up  
on news?" George held up his hand to gesture around him.  
  
"You mean the gossip that gets posted around? Yeah I read it.  
Why?" Ranma didn't know which way this conversation was pointing. He   
was almost surprised that George didn't tell him that it was just a   
phase and he'd grow out of it.  
  
"Think about the rebels. You have heard that there have been a  
few caught?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You've heard whats happened to them, right?"  
  
"They left, convinced that there was nothing wrong. George, I   
don't see what this has to do with my personal problems about life,"   
Ranma said with a look of doubt.  
  
"Son, its not just about you. Some people think these rebels   
are only disgruntled peasants and convicts. These people genuinely   
believe that there is something that they can change in the galaxy.   
You see where I'm leading to?"  
  
"Yes, I'm starting to follow you. Go on."  
  
"Now, these rebels are devout in their beliefs, as most people   
are. You know what I'm saying?"  
  
"Yeah." Ranma could understand that. It would be a strange   
someone that could change the way HE thought.  
  
"These people, they are arrested, brought into the Queen   
Mercury's palace, and leave a day later with the belief that nothing   
needs to be changed. You see an inconsistency here?"  
  
"Something's strange is happening on Mercury?"  
  
"Not just Mercury, sonny, the whole galaxy. Others, though,   
aren't as forgiving. I hear things that aren't heard by most people.  
Secret things."  
  
"And your gonna tell me these things?" Ranma didn't know if he   
was the one to keep a secret if was about the Silver Millenium. He was  
slightly uneasy about being told confidential secrets. Against his   
will, he was starting to believe the old janitor's unspoken words. The   
Silver Millenium had a conspiracy. It never had the interest of the   
people.   
  
"Only if you promise not to tell anyone." The janitor looked   
around to make sure they were alone. He gestured for Ranma to follow   
him into the courtyard behind the some shrubs and a couple trees.   
It wasn't exactly hard for Ranma to notice that he was being secretive.  
"Promise not to tell anyone and I'll tell you everything I know."  
  
"Before I do, I need to know something. Are you a rebel?"  
  
"If you mean going around preventing atrocities done by the   
kingdom, no. I'm too old and have not the skills for it. In spirit I  
am, however, in that I don't think the same way as we are supposed to   
think.  
  
"Supposed to think? You mean..." Ranma couldn't believe it.   
Was there some sort of galaxy wide plot to control the people?  
  
"Promise you won't tell anyone and I'll tell you more."  
  
"Okay. I swear by the rings of Saturn that I won't tell a   
soul." Ranma swore fervently.   
  
"Saturn? Bite your tongue, sonny! Thats the last place you'd   
want to refer to." The janitor lightly slapped Ranma in the back of   
his head. To most people, as was taught in class, Saturn was a special  
planet. Being the largest planet with rings with the deadliest senshi  
it was thought to be almost holy. When people did swear by Saturn or  
any part it was supposed to be a special oath. Seemed like this   
janitor knew even more than he was letting on. "But the oath is   
genuine, so listen up."  
  
"Like I said before, I am to some extent a rebel because I   
think outside the norm. I'm not a true rebel, though for reasons I'm   
telling you now. You want to know what is going on in the   
galaxy?"  
  
Ranma nodded.  
  
"As I told you before, strange things are happening to rebels.  
They're being changed. The rebels on other planets are not so lucky.   
Many of them are being killed outright, or worse, tortured into  
submission and forced to give up all their secrets down to everything   
from when they last had a a freedom fighter meeting to where they live.  
The only planet that hasn't had any uprisings is Pluto. The planet   
doesn't even have a government because its too small. Saturn, my boy,   
is the worst of them all."  
  
"What?! How is that?"  
  
"I'm sure that you know of Queen Saturn's power, right? That it   
is said she can destroy whole planets if necessary?"  
  
"Yeah, but if she did that then there would be no Queen Saturn.   
The threat of world destruction wouldn't be enough to stop the rebels."  
  
"Ranma, she doesn't use threats. Bluff's are weak to her.   
Only by acting does she cow her people into submission."  
  
"What kinds of acts?"  
  
"Torture."  
  
"..."  
  
"Remember, don't tell anyone. The people would suffer even   
more if you did." Ranma interrupted at this point.  
  
"Why are you telling me this? I thought you said that the   
rebels were all people from a poorer class."  
  
"I said thats what most people thought of them," He corrected.  
"Most people don't know that it isn't just 'peasants' that join the   
rebels, but many from the middle class and even a few nobles. Royalty   
joining the rebels is unthinkable, however. They're too sheltered to   
know anything beyong what they see in their dandy-little palaces."  
  
"So, although I don't believe any of this George, I'm starting   
to understand it." Ranma said this with doubt in his voice. He may   
not believe it, but with understanding comes wisdom, and with that he   
may believe. George knew that he was on the right path.  
  
"Don't worry about it, boy. I'm not telling you to join the  
rebels and go on a killing spree or anything."  
  
"You still haven't answered me about why your telling me this."  
  
"I'm telling you this so you get the big picture. It isn't   
enough to get a nagging feeling about your life, you need to know why   
you've got that feeling. When you know that, you can make decisions   
that will affect your whole life much easier than seeing only the   
icing on the cake."  
  
"...This is some pretty heavy shit you just told me," Ranma   
stated bluntly. "I'm gonna need a few days to think about this."   
  
"You've got your whole life to think about it. It'll only get   
worse as time passes. Remember, though Saturn is the worst of them all   
the planets are using some method in dealing with the uprisings."  
  
"George, you asked me if I checked up on the news. I get all   
the stuff about the planets now, after that very long in-depth backround   
information you gave me. But you haven't mentioned anything   
about that mysterios killer, or group of killers, that has been   
been snatching people and making them disapear. They don't even KNOW if   
this is a killer or what.  
  
"That, Ranma, is something no one knows about."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Its said that many people have started the uprisings solely because   
of those incidents. It is also said that these people that are   
disappearing are noteworthy people that excel at something. Another is   
that the people, the ones that are dissatisfied, are missing. Its also   
said that this whole thing with the disapearing bodies is a ploy to turn   
the people against the government. I don't know, they're all rumors.  
Whether any of it is true is anyones guess. However, if you even think   
that you've spotted someone that gives you a sense of unease, you   
shouldn't talk to them or get near them."  
  
"I'm feeling uneasy about everything you've told me. Does that   
count?" Ranma said this slightly joking, slightly sarcastically.   
  
"Well, I can be your exception then," He joked back. "Remember,   
respect your elders boy!"  
  
  
Ranma slowly became aware of himself. He looked up. The light was   
slowly disapearing over the horizon. He must have been listening to ol'   
George longer than he thought. He couldn't believe he skipped class the   
whole day! Oh well, no time to think about it now. Gotta get home.  
  
"George, its time for me to go home now. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"See ya sonny, if you ever want more information on what they DON'T   
tell you in school, stop on by." George's words were pretty ironic,   
considering that he was at the school and Ranma did learn these things at   
school.  
  
"See you."  
  
George slowly walked back towards the building, leaving Ranma alone   
to walk home in light of the falling sun, to ponder the events of the last  
couple of hours.  
  
There WAS something wrong with his life, but it wasn't just about   
him. It effected the entire galaxy. The ruling class of the entire kingdom  
of the Silver Millenium was corrupt. George failed to mention it, but   
Ranma was guessing that the real reason for the uprisings was because of   
the unfair taxes and the treatment of the lower classes. But then again,   
George mentioned that there might be another reason. Someone behind the  
scenes, but that was just a rumor.   
  
Ranma shook his head. All of this would only matter to him if he   
actually BELIEVED the old man. He had done enough reflecting. It was time  
to go home.  
  
  
*************************************************  
  
George walked back inside of the school, fingering the dagger   
he always kept under his clothes. It was always at this time that he   
was most nervous. Ranma could lie to him and have him arrestes, to   
wander around like a zombie as the rest of them were when they were   
arrested. On the other hand, he could have put enough evidence in   
Ranma's mind to just tip the scale in the rebel's favor and get Ramna to   
join them. He didn't like his job. There were numberous times where   
he had to kill people to silence them and not give him away because   
they were too stubborn and too sheltered to understand what people on   
the outside felt. To live in fear everyday of some bogeyman that   
wasn't content to hide under the bed or of the queen's own soldiers,   
they would never feel that kind of fear. Either way, George knew that  
someday Ranma MUST choose the right path, or Ranma would be killed.  
And not by a janitor.  
  
*************************************************  
  
Standing on top of the school, a creature had watched the entire   
conversation between the old man and the boy. He had been told to watch  
the boy, but this old man seemed to have something in common with the boy.   
Dangerous, maybe. Zeiram had given him no guidelines about removing   
bothersome unknown problems. He would wait another day before making a   
move. The Zeiram had told him to watch this boy. The memories of his   
first absorbed victim those hundreds of years ago was a cousin of this boy.  
Even at birth, when the cousin witnessed it, this boy was different, and   
Zeiram would take no chances.  
  
(end of chapter 1)  
  
  
  
Authors notes: Well, not much for me to say about this. The original idea   
started out much differently, but changed along the way. 


	2. The Right Path 2

The Right Path   
AceTalon  
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi  
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi  
Chapter 2  
  
Uriko paced the room. Where was that boy of hers? He was   
supposed to have been back a half an hour ago. Ranma should  
show a little more respect for his mother. After all, wasn't she the   
one who always tried to find girls for him to check out when he was too  
shy to look for one himself? It was still difficult for her to believe.  
Her own son! Afraid of girls. That just wouldn't do. Luckily, it was   
probably just a phase. Now, if only she could sucker one of the girl's   
parents into paying a dowry and marrying the boy off before the boy's  
father ever found out. She couldn't have him sleeping with every girl  
he saw or else no one would pay a dowry to get the boy. Which would   
mean less money for her to do with as she pleased. With the way   
things were going now, she probably wouldn't be given permission from   
the council to have another child.  
  
"Honestly, with everyone living so long It'll be a damn long   
time before I get permission to have another child!"   
  
"I swear, if that boy messes this up it'll be his last   
mistake," she swore vehemently, balling up her left hand and hitting   
the palm of her right. No son of hers would turn into a prostitute!  
  
She heard the front door open and close. "Uriko? Are you   
home?"  
  
"Yes dear," she called back. Best not to think about it now.  
Not with her husband home.  
  
  
Maeda shut the front door and sighed. Being the advisor to the  
Queen of Mercury was tough work, especially when the queen was smart   
enough not to need an advisor. For any other planet his job would be   
one of the most rewarding, but when the queen needed no help handling   
things he had very little to do unless an emergency occured. Of  
course, the chance of that was slim. There hadn't been an emergency in  
hundreds of years, before he ever took his oh-so unimportant position  
as advisor. Before the purification, before the extreme longevity.   
His only goal in this life was to make sure Ranma got jiggy with it  
with as many girls as he could find for the boy.   
  
****************************************  
  
A mile or so away Ranma sneezed.  
  
"Must be getting colder," He thought. Strange, it didn't feel any   
colder, and the snowstorms weren't supposed to come around for a few   
months. "Better use that new coat I bought soon."  
  
For anyone who didn't live on Mercury, it would have been   
common sense that it wouldn't be a cold planet, but a hot one. A   
really hot one. It was only because of the Queen's magic that everyone  
on the planet wasn't a lump of ash. Not even Queen Mercury could   
control the weather enough to make it a cool temperature for everyone.  
Instead, the populace had to settle for weather that was more than a   
little cold. It was also a safety method. If the Queen controlled the  
weather, no one in their right mind would assassinate her or they'd die  
soon afterwards.  
  
Ranma walked a little faster, just in case he was catching a   
cold.  
  
*****************************************  
  
The only problem was his wife. Ranma's mother continued to   
try to keep him from getting into that kind of behavior for some   
reason. Why she did, he had no idea. The boy needed to sow some oats   
before it was too late!  
  
"Uriko, the boy needs to learn some things about life," he  
thought. "What we should have done was encourage sexual behavior when   
he hit puberty, about 20 years ago." After all, Ranma couldn't very   
well become a man if he didn't act manly. If he didn't act manly, then  
who would treat him like one? Maeda especially didn't want other  
people to treat Ranma the way the boy's mother did. That would totally  
have devastated Maeda if everyone did.  
  
  
He exchanged pleasantries with his wife, talking about stuff   
that wasn't important. The two always avoided the subject of their son  
because both had totally different views on how Ranma should live his   
life.   
  
"How was work today, Dear?"  
  
"Very boring. I almost wonder sometimes what it is I'm   
supposed to do." Maeda ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  
  
"Why's that?" Uriko raised an eyebrow. She didn't keep up   
with politics too often, unless it had some juicy gossip somewhere in   
it.  
  
"The queen can handle everything; she doesn't need me around,"  
Maeda said this with an almost uncaring shrug.   
  
"Oh dear, don't say that! Besides, all of the rulers have an   
Advisor."  
  
"Thats precisely why I still am her advisor."  
  
"What happen to you if you lost your job?"  
  
"Probably take a different job, maybe be a minister of the law   
or something else in government. Mercury wouldn't fire me.  
"I'm a backup plan. In the unlikely event that something goes  
wrong, she can hang all the blame on me."  
  
Uriko gave a small gasp and covered her mouth.  
  
"Oh my, that isn't very nice!"   
  
"No it doesn't. There isn't much I can do about it though."  
Maeda shrugged helplessly. He looked outside, it was getting darker.  
"I'll wait for Ranma. Then I'm going to bed."  
  
"Okay, Dear." Uriko got up and left. She'd talk to Ranma  
later. It wouldn't do to have Maeda hear what she had to say. Maeda  
took out a bottle of sherry and poured himself a glass. Good liquor  
always made him feel better before he had one of his 'talks' with  
Ranma.  
  
**************************************  
  
Ranma absently entertained the idea of scaling the wall to his   
room to escape the 'talk' that was no doubt going to take place once he  
walked into the house. He inwardly smirked at the thought.  
  
"Yeah, it would get me out of a talk," he thought, "And lead me  
straight to the hospital with a broken arm."   
  
He couldn't scale a tree very easily, much less a two story  
wall. That, and the chance of accidentally stabbing himself with an  
icicle hanging off the edges wasn't a great thought either.   
  
It wasn't as if the talk was a life changing experience, but he  
was tired of hearing the same two 'talks' over and over. One from his  
father and one from his mother. He could almost hear it now while he  
opened the door.   
  
"Ranma, why haven't you done anything manly recently?"  
  
"Ranma, meet this new girl I found you. She lives at..."  
  
"We aren't getting any younger here, boy! Hurry up and find   
some girls to get close to."  
  
"Its important to follow the advice of your mother, so don't   
get too close to anyone until your mother can find you a nice rich   
wife."  
  
"Ranma, hurry up and have sex already!"  
  
That last one shook Ranma out of his little daze, surprsing   
him. The old man said that just now. It wasn't just some strange  
comment Ranma imagined him or his mom to say.   
  
On second glance, the man wasn't saying it to him, per say. He  
was muttering in his sleep.  
  
"Thats it, my boy. Be a man," he murmured in his sleep, an   
empty bottle of liquor in his hand. There was a mostly empty bottle  
still on the table. Ranma shook his head.  
  
"Jeez, dad," he muttered. "You really don't know your limit.  
"After all these years you've been drinking, you still can't see it   
coming." He shrugged. "Oh well, better for me. He'll get a headache   
tomorrow and I escape another pointless talk." Ranma took the mostly  
empty bottle and poured himself a cup, about to drink it. He   
needed something to calm his nerves after everything that George told  
him. Ranma brought the cup to his lips several times and stopped to  
set it down after each attempt. Finally he sighed, giving up the  
mental battle, and set the cup back on the table. He needed his wits  
while he thought about it. His line of reasoning would be gone after  
the first gulp of the stuff. Drinking to ease the nerves wouldn't  
help.  
  
Ranma climbed the stairs slowly, thinking about his meeting  
with George next to the school. He looked out a window, the black sky  
looking back at him expressionessly. The Mercurian boy felt a twinge  
in his heart. He finished walking up to his room and stared at the sky  
through the balcony window. There was no moon. No light anywhere on  
the planet as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was at times like  
these where he felt truly alone. And after talking with George it now  
brought out the lonliness with greater ease than it ever did before.   
  
"I'm alone," he thought. "My parents don't understand me. My  
friends don't understand me. Hell, I don't understand me. I'm not   
even by myself in my identity." He stared out the window. The low   
rustle of the tree outside his window seemed to amplify the sense of   
being by his lonesome. "What do I do? What is out there that is any  
different than here? Why should I do anything at all?" To beat that  
lonliness. To find others like himself. Ranma turned over in his bed.  
George even said it himself. That he was different. Was there anyone   
else different? Why did George only talk to him? Out of an entire   
school, there had to be someone, just one person, that was the same as   
him.   
  
But no, George hadn't talked to anyone else as far as Ranma  
knew. A tear was trying to make its way to his face. For so many   
years, the window was open with the black night visible. On the night  
where the stars didn't even glimmer, like the one now, wishing that  
something radical would change. That somehow his life would be better  
without him knowing what needed to change. Ranma got up for a minute  
to light a candle. The Mercurian boy needed to reminisce.  
  
When Ranma was younger, much younger, sometimes he would keep a  
candle lit for the whole time that he was awake until he fell asleep.   
A small haven in the neverending void. He would shiver and wish the  
night would just disappear. He never knew why then; now he did. The  
night represented the people. Everyone. The single star in the sky  
was that candle. He was there, alone, by himself.  
  
Sometimes, Ranma wished he was part of that darkness, that he  
fit in, that he wasn't different. He slowly drifted to sleep with that  
last thought, blowing out the candle.  
  
  
******************************************  
  
Ranma walked up to the school. He grinned. The first day of   
school for the year. It was time to make his big entrance. Good thing  
on the first day of class there was a speech competition.  
  
(in the speech competition)  
  
Ranma walked up to the podium. "Alas," He thought. "I was  
horribly unprepared for such a speech, only spending the entire   
vacation on it. But enough meditative thinking! On to the speech!"  
  
"I am the undefeatable champion of this school's Kendo club.  
The rising young star in the school or total morons. But my peers call  
me...The True Dumbass of Mercury High!" He paused for a moment as a   
comet smashed into him, making a tiny crater around him. That didn't   
faze him, however, as he immediately stood up and shouted, "Any that  
wishes to date me must be defeated by me in combat!"  
  
Ranma spotted a young lady. "Ah, tis but a mere pittance to   
ignore that statment I myself just said now," he thought. He pulled  
out some roses and shouted, "MY LOVE! DATE WITH ME!" He threw   
himself at her with . Sadly for him, but luckily for her, she caught   
him in the face with her foot, leaving him in the dust.  
  
"Pig!" she spat and walked off.  
  
"The ways of a women are very mysterious," he muttered,   
spitting some dirt from his mouth.   
  
*******************************************  
  
Ranma woke up in a cold sweat. What the hell was that dream?  
Was that him? And did he just willingly call himself a dumbass?   
He'd had some bad dreams before, but this one topped it. What did he  
say before he fell asleep? What would it be like to fit in? Ranma   
shuddered. If that was what it was like, then he'd take being lonely   
anyday. That was just too horrible beyond imagination. Ranma looked   
outside. The sun was just rising, so school was going to start soon.  
He changed his clothes and grabbed his coat before going out. Ranma  
raced down the stairs and out the door.   
  
  
Back at school Ranma didn't even bother to try to get into  
class. There was no use in trying to do that, when all that would   
happen was that he'd be ignored. Instead, he scoured the halls  
looking for the familiar face of George.  
  
"Where'd he go?" Ranma muttered. "He's always around here   
somewhere."   
  
Ranma needed to find him and relieve some fears he had. Either  
that or discover if his fears were true. One or the other. Ranma   
peeked around the corner, hoping that he wouldn't run into-  
  
"*Ahem* What are you doing in the halls while class is in   
session?" a voice said behind him.   
  
-the principal.  
  
The wary student turned around fearfully. Being a gigantic sized  
man that had to weigh over a ton, at least to Ranma's thinking, the  
Principal was a real asshole. Since he made up the school rules, that  
and students had no rights in school, the Principal made up a rule that  
said any student caught late in the halls by the Principal would get a  
sound beating before being sent back to class. Not many students were  
caught, but still, just actually having that rule made everyone dislike  
him.  
  
"Shit," Ranma thought. "Think think think!" He turned around   
and looked to his sides. The principal was cracking his knuckles!  
There had to be a way around this! Maybe...  
  
"Look, a three headed monkey! And it's riding a giant spoon!"  
Ranma shouted, pointing behind the principal with a surprised  
expression.  
  
"Hmm? Where?" The Principal turned around and Ranma turned  
the corner and bolted. "There is no spoon. Not to mention no monkey.  
What the... hey! Where'd you go?"  
  
Ranma leaned against a wall on the fourth floor and breathed a   
sigh of relief sometime in between his gasping for air. Good thing the  
guy was as dumb as a brick. Suddenly, Ranma felt a hand quickly clap  
his shoulder.  
  
"Ah!" he shouted, jumping up and clutching the ceiling. He   
looked down. George, that jerk! He'd snuck up behind and hit   
him on the shoulder. He was clutching his stomach and laughing. Ranma  
gritted his teeth. Then, realizing where he was, released his grasp   
of the ceiling beam and landed on the ground not too gracefully.   
  
"Arg," he said, rubbing his forehead, grimacing, and glared at  
George again, who just started laughing all the harder at Ranma's  
descent back to the ground. "George, that was low."  
  
"Not really, you jumped pretty high," George remarked, grinning  
at his own joke. He offered Ranma a hand, which Ranma took. "So what   
brings you to the fourth floor?"  
  
"Besides paying my respects to the old geezer that works out  
here, not much," Ranma said dryly.   
  
"Hah! Old geezer? Respect your elders, whelp!" George  
chuckled. He leaned on the wall, waiting for Ranma to finish rubbing   
the red spot.  
  
"Yeah well, I didn't know you were such a crotchety old man,"   
Ranma returned.   
  
"I said elder, not ancient."  
  
"Feh! Same difference."  
  
George cracked a grin at that.  
  
"But seriously, I was running from the principal." George shook  
his head.   
  
"Good idea. That guy is totally insane," muttered the janitor.  
"Take my advice, you don't ever want to see him. Alone or with other   
people."  
  
"Yeah." Ranma looked over his shoulder, almost expecting the   
sound of knuckles being cracked. "But really, I was looking for you.   
I needed to ask you something."  
  
"I'm guessing its about what I was talking about yesterday?"  
  
Ranma nodded.  
  
"Just as well. That's a great deal more interesting than   
mopping the floor." George and Ranma walked back out of the school  
under the tree they previously met under.  
  
"So, what did you want to ask me about?"  
  
"Well, there's something funny about my parents."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"They act...peverted." Ranma squirmed uncomfortably. "No  
other way to say it. They try to get me to go, well..." Ranma shifted   
his weight from one foot to another and said quietly, "...do things."  
  
"Huh? Your parents?"  
  
"Its weird. No one else I've met is like that."  
  
"Sorry Ranma, can't answer you there."  
  
"Okay. Damn, I thought that it might have been some sort of   
abnormal personality thing. Actually, I hoped it was."  
  
"That bad, huh?"  
  
"My parents both want different things out of me! One wants to   
extort money using my body and the other wants me to go out and be a  
prostitute."  
  
"You'll live. Don't sweat it."  
  
"Oh well. Before I go, can I ask you one thing?"  
  
"Sure." The janitor looked at him hard.  
  
"Being a rebel, do you ever have that feeling, that   
overwhelming pressure, that the entire galaxy is against you? A small   
light in a lightless world?"  
  
"All the time Ranma," he said softly. "We all feel that way   
For some people it's almost unbearable. Others have even tried to get   
caught, to be brainwashed, just so that they can join their families.   
Such an occurrance is not uncommon. Why?"  
  
"Then I might already be a rebel." That set him back on his   
heels. _Already_ be a rebel?  
  
"My entire life, I've felt like that. Alone, pressured, closed  
in. It wouldn't make a bit of difference for me."  
  
George was silent. Did that mean this boy had already made up  
his mind?   
  
"Does that mean you're willing?" He asked. "Willing to give up  
everything to join a cause? I ask you this because most of the time   
people that join our cause have nothing else to live for. We look  
for the people that have nothing because they are the ones that have   
lost the most. This is the reason most of us joined in the first  
place. We have nothing to lose. You do."  
  
"What I have to lose," Ranma stated with finality, "is nothing  
I wish to treasure. I want to join the rebels."  
  
"I'd say this is your last chance to back out, but you seem   
to have made your mind already. Alright, go to the station in Arktica.  
You know, the town to the west. A man will meet you there. He'll   
recognize you."  
  
"What? No secret sign or password?"  
  
"That crap is too suspicious. A description of you is all he   
needs."  
  
  
George gave Ranma a few more instructions. Ranma heard it, and  
nodded  
  
"So basically, what I do is go to the station three days from   
today. Once there, wait for someone at noon to come to me, and I'll   
get more directions then? Ranma was dubious. "Sounds kinda tedious."  
  
"So, am I gonna be told what this guy looks like or am I gonna   
have to wait before he's breathing down my neck? I'm not exactly fond  
I'm not exactly fond of surprises," Ranma said, jerking his head up   
and towards the left. No matter how he tried, he still couldn't put  
the scare back in the school out of his mind.  
  
"Don't worry. Besides, I've got three days to get your  
description right."   
  
"Knowing how ancient you are, it'll take you that much time to   
get it anyways," Ranma said, laughing.  
  
"You young 'uns never heard of the word respect, have you?"   
George just shook his head. "I suggest you just do what you do  
normally 'till then. Don't go all acting funny or people might think   
there's something wrong with ya, boy."  
  
"Okay, whatever."   
  
********************************************  
  
The Zeiram clone's eyes flashed from the tree's leaves. The  
boy was leaving! And the old man was getting him to join them! This  
would not do at all. He had to act now, before any of this occurred.  
The master was not ready. His orders were to kill any suspected of  
knowing things they shouldn't. Even rumours were to be silenced.  
The old man knew too much, even if it was just rumors, and so did the  
boy. It leaped, claws outstretched with pointed teeth ready to tear  
out a throat.  
  
********************************************  
  
Ranma spun as he heard a shriek and a cry of surprise. There   
were sounds of a struggle. Ranma grabbed a tree branch that had   
recently fallen and ran a couple feet where he saw the most horrifying  
creature he'd ever seen, perched on top of George's chest trying to  
claw his neck while George was fending off the claws.  
  
"Holy-!" He thought skidding to a halt. He clammered back to   
the branch and picked it up. Ranma's hand trembled and he broke out  
into sweat. George was yelling out and his futile attempts to avoid  
the claws made Ranma's legs tremble, making it hard for him to stand.  
He tightened his grip on the branch. Fear was plastered on the   
untrained rescuer's face, but he couldn't just leave George here to die  
and leave the creature to hunt him down.  
  
  
The monster stood on all fours. With a pukeish green skin with   
patches of pink it was not pretty. It did not blink its tiny eyes that  
were narrowed to tiny slits, nor did it move its bulbous head. The   
thing had no neck, or almost none. Its head was that close to its  
body. It seemed to be constantly grinning, its mouth seemed to be  
stuck in a permanent grin. With wickedly sharp looking teeth this was  
all the more grotesque. Ranma couldn't help but gasp in shock,  
attracting the creature's attention. What the hell was he gonna do?  
  
George saved him from making that decision. The cautious old   
rebel reached into his shirt and brought out an easily concealed punch  
dagger. The blade slashed across the face that hovered mere inches  
from his own. The monster screeched in pain and scraped his claws on  
George blindly. George made a lucky strike, he caught one of the  
creature's eyes. The fallen janitor shut his eyes in pain as he felt  
the burning coming from a piercing sensation. There was a good-sized  
hole gaping on his stomach.   
  
Ranma wasted no time in swinging the tree branch with all his   
strength, knocking the creature to the side and freeing George. He   
quickly bent over George, checking the wound. Ranma was definitely no  
doctor, but he could tell the wound wouldn't be too serious if he could  
get George help relatively soon.   
  
"George, can you move?" He asked quickly. The monster was   
getting up. "We need to get out of here." Ranma looked up to the   
classroom windows. Where the hell were the other students? Why didn't  
anyone else notice what was going on?  
  
"Y-yeah, I can walk," George weezed. The freaky thing had   
knocked him down pretty hard. "But I can't get far. You'll have to   
go without me."  
  
"What? No way! And leave you to that thing?" Ranma shouted   
at him.  
  
"Boy, shut up a moment and look at it." The monster was   
staring at Ranma with its malevolent eyes. It looked ready to pounce.  
It totally ignored George. "You'd be safer without me to need   
protection, and so would I without you trying to protect me without   
you." He cracked a grin. "Take this and get your ass running, Boy."  
He tossed the punch dagger to Ranma, nodding. Ranma caught it and   
ran out the school gates, no time to show gratitude with a damn clone   
after him.  
  
George sighed and sat on the ground, hissing in pain at the   
burning in his chest. Was that creature? Were the rumors true? A  
body snatcher that makes the most gifted of people disapear? If it   
was true, then he was...  
  
He shook his head. The thing was after Ranma. Was there  
something even more special about Ranma than he previously thought?  
  
********************  
  
Ranma slipped on the dagger over his fist, praying that he  
didn't kill himself using the weapon. Damn his mother! If only she   
gave him more freedom to do what he wanted.  
  
Ranma glanced back behind him. The thing was gaining, and   
there was nothing between it and Ranma besides open snow and street.   
  
"WHY THE HELL AREN'T THERE ANY PEOPLE OUT?" He shouted  
out loud. All he asked was that there was one person to witness this  
and get help, but no! He was alone, running for his life. Alone, with  
a monster. The creature leaped, and Ranma in his panic tripped and   
fell while looking over his shoulder. The monster passed over him,   
claws outstretched, that woulda buried themselved into his shoulder   
blades if he hadn't have fallen. Dammit, now he was on the ground with  
a monster hovering right in front of him, probably waiting to bite his  
head off.  
  
"Motherf-" he cursed, crouching and swinging clumsily at the   
Zeiram clone. It moved back a step, missing and leaving Ranma off  
balance. It made a guttural sound in its throat as it watched Ranma   
stumble. "Its laughing at me," he thought, feeling sick.  
  
The clone grabbed Ranma's leg and tried to pull it out from   
under him, biting at his foot.   
  
"You want a piece of me? Then eat this!" Ranma snarled and  
helped by shoving his boot in the clone's mouth. It start choking, and  
Ranma shoved the punch dagger in its back. The blade glanced off   
something on its skin, but it touched down on a soft spot. The clone  
reared its head back, forcing Ranma to let go of the dagger and  
stumble back. But not before the clone slashed its claws one last  
time before scampering off. Ranma clutched his wrist, the cut was  
fairly deep, so it was a miracle that he was still alive, Ranma   
hurredly glanced about the area. He definitely didn't kill the damn  
thing. Turning, the terrified boy with a bleeding wrist sprinted as  
fast as he could to the place where the Moon guards were stationed.  
  
***********************************  
  
The Zeiram clone glared at the retreating form of Ranma. This was the   
first time that someone had hurt him. Ever. And he wanted payback.   
"That boy will never live to see another day," it thought, grinning.   
He'd follow the boy discreetly for as long as necessary.  
  
************************************  
  
"Hey! I need help!" Ranma shouted. The guards were from the   
Moon. They were supposedly of the elite warrior class, only the best  
of the best could even go to the moon and attempt to join the Moon  
guard. These lazy slobs were probably bums off the street made to look  
like the real ones for "security," to reassure the people. He gritted   
his teeth as he tightened his grip on his wrist. Blood was flowing   
profusely and he couldn't stop it. "Hey!"  
  
"Yeah yeah, shut yer trap kid," growled Guard 1, lazily leaning  
over a sword. "We heard ya."  
  
"There's a monster out there! It attacked at Mercury High!" He  
shouted at them. "The body snatcher that's been attacking." He lied  
about that last part. It may or may not be the one, he thought, but  
he needed help now. The guards squinted at him. They didn't believe  
a word he said.   
  
"Really now?" Guard 2 chuckled. He was a fat guy, barely   
fitting into his armor. Mostly likely he never even went through  
training. "And when was this?"  
  
"It was just a few minutes ago." Ranma started to breath  
hard. He was feeling a little tired, with all the running around and   
the cut on his wrist.   
  
The first guard barked a laugh. "Kid, if your trying to be  
desperate, you could at least act like it," he said. He nearly speared  
his foot with his sword when he leaned on it.  
  
"What?! You think I'm lying?" The young noble was looking a little  
pissed at that.  
  
"Don't mess with us kid, we know your trying to get us away   
from our post," he responded, not looking the least bit threatened by   
a kid who looked like he cut his wrist with a kitchen knife.   
  
"Look, I'm telling you that I've been attacked and the creature  
is real!" Ranma shouted. The hot tempered noble clenched his fist,  
which wasn't a good thing because the blood came out a little quicker.  
He was giving them the finger.  
  
"Scram kid, before you bleed to death. We don't want a corpse  
on our hands." The fat guard thrusted his chest out to look important.  
All it served to do was show Ranma how much Serenity and her government   
really cared about the general populace of other planets. It's not as if  
reasonable thoughts were always present when a monster has just attacked   
anyways. "We're here to keep the peace, not go on a monster hunt."  
  
"Screw you guys, you're here to look tough and act like shit.  
You don't care a bent penny about what's going on," Ranma punched the fat   
one in the face with his bloody palm and spat at them before running off.  
  
"Why that little-!" The second fat guard stood up and picked up  
his spear. A smear of blood lined his cheek. "That brat is gonna get  
it!" The first guard just yawned.  
  
"What, you gonna chase after him? That'll be the day!" he   
said. The second guard just muttered some idle threats and sat down.   
He could hunt that kid down anyday, he reasoned, but the kid just  
wasn't worth the time.  
  
A squad of soldiers marched through the street. They looked   
tough, mean, and more than ready to take on any rabble that sprung up  
from the street. They were the real police on Mercury. With their   
main building closed to the general public, they were more like a  
secret guard. They never came out unless there was a reason. And that  
reason had to be a good one. They approached the watch post with the  
two lazy bums off the street.   
  
"Yeah, what is it?" guard one mumbled. He was halfway to  
dreamland when he saw the hazy form of the soldiers.  
  
The captain of the squad wrinkled his nose in disgust at the  
rabble meant to placate the public. He had no respect for these men,   
they were merely decoys. Scapegoats if the populace ever got riled up.  
"We've been sent a royal notice. We're here to inform you that the   
Queen of the Silver Millenium has decreed that rumors about monster   
attacks are getting out of control. Therefore, any rumor starters are   
to be arrested on charges of disturbing the peace. You are ordered to   
watch for any such individual."  
  
The second fat guard rolled his eyes. "The creeps are   
everywhere," he stated, burping and scratching in back. "Just a few  
minutes ago there was a brat running through here, shouting in our  
faces about a monster attack."  
  
One of the soldiers smirked. "The action is coming soon," he  
whispered to his buddy. The captain glanced back at them and they were  
silent.  
  
"What did this boy look like?" he asked the two guards.  
  
"Well, he was average height, blue eyes, blair hair, and kept it   
in a pigtail. We didn't catch his name. Although," the first guard   
thought to himself for a moment. "He did say that the attack happened   
at Mercury High. Might wanna check that out."  
  
The Captain nodded. Turning to his men, he issued the commands.   
  
"Lets go men; Our new destination is Mercury High!" He ordered   
them. They responded with a shout and marched down the street. The  
school wasn't too far away.   
  
*****************************************  
  
Ranma cursed the entire security system on the planet. Damn  
them! They didn't listen to anyone but themselves. Those who needed  
help were stuck with doing things themselves. Ranma was starting to  
see even better why the rebels were fighting. The level of safety was  
going down, with men like the two he met and tried to get help from.   
Ranma really wasn't thinking about them at the moment, he was too busy  
looking over his shoulder for that little bastard that cut his wrist.  
  
"Did I lose him?" Ranma wondered as he wrapped his wrist in a   
bandage. He'd checked out a general convenience store to get the   
bandage before heading to the hosptial.  
  
"With luck, I'll be there before I pass out," he thought. The   
hospital was pretty far away.  
  
"Hey, kid! Stop!" 


	3. The Right Path 3

The Right Path  
AceTalon  
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi  
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi  
Iria Zeiram by Keita Amemiya  
Chapter 3  
  
Doctor Hashime looked up and down the cut on Ranma's wrist. He  
stitched it up and expertly wrapped it up in a bandage. Ranma winced.  
Damn that hurt. He nervously tapped his foot on the ground, almost  
waiting for the door to be broken down and a monster hissing right  
outside. Or a tingling in the back of his neck and a scamper behind  
him. He was in a clinic. It was a hell of a lot closer than the  
hospital, and the Doc was well known around here for being as good as  
any other. The Doc stood up and wiped his brow.  
  
"That was a pretty nasty cut, boy." He turned Ranma's wrist  
over and examined his work. "My best work yet," the doctor remarked,  
nodding to himself.  
  
Ranma looked at the stitches and nodded his thanks. It was  
well done. No wide open gaps or too much thread used. Doctor Hashime  
wrapped his arm up in a tight tan-colored cloth to cover the stitches.  
  
"I'm not going to ask you how this happened. One reason people  
come to me is because I don't ask questions. All I ask is not to  
involve me," he stated coldly. Ranma nodded. Though he knew that this  
sort of treatment was inevitable, what with being Mercury, he could  
understand that the Doc would not want undesirables coming in and  
ruining his business. Ranma expected nothing more.  
  
Ranma paid the man, though he was not exactly stocked with  
cash at the moment, and left. The Doc just turned around and went  
back to his paperwork. He didn't give a damn about the boy. He got  
paid and his reputation would remain as the best doctor that could keep  
his mouth shut. These days, number one was all that mattered. It was  
the way life worked and would continue to work. All to the benefit of  
the queen.  
  
Standing in the street, Ranma sighed in relief as he  
recalled that guy shouting out for him to stop. The guy needed  
directions to a bar and as a side comment he remarked that Ranma should  
get his arm checked and pointed at the building across the street.  
That was then, and now the troubled youth was torn between going home  
and finding the monster to kill so he wouldn't be worried about being  
followed home. Well, that is, if he WAS being followed home. Ranma  
laughed for a second. Him, kill the thing? That was a joke! He  
didn't even know what was going on. Hell, he didn't even know if  
George was ok. All he knew was that something bad was happening, and  
he was caught in it.  
  
Ranma walked the streets, seeing people go up and down. There  
was a group of guys he liked to hang out with in a group talking across  
the street, and they waved to him. He waved back, but didn't join  
them. He was still getting paranoid. They could get killed and it  
would be his fault if they were. The bandaged youth walked a little  
faster. They'd also notice the bandage on his arm, and he didn't  
want to explain that.  
  
"Dammit," he cursed. "I can almost hear that little freak  
crawling on the roof." He looked up with irritation plastered all  
over his face. "It just had to happen to me, didn't it?" He asked  
himself with a touch of anger. "Me, the loner. The outcast. The guy  
who had too much personality to fit in. I'm the one who's cursed to  
go running around looking over my shoulder when I'm three days away  
from making the most important decision in my life." He chuckled,  
which was somewhat ironic. He didn't want the thing hunting him down  
when it stood on George, but now it was.  
  
Ranma turned the corner and ran into someone. He muttered an  
apology and kept walking, not bothering to look. Until that same  
someone spoke to him in a deep voice.  
  
"Hey kid," he said. "You don't look so good. Get into a fight  
or something?"  
  
Ranma looked up. It was one of the Mercury knights. The  
security force on the planet. This guy looked nothing like the two  
fakes he ran into before. This guy was a trained fighter. And he  
startled Ranma, who covered his stitched wrist with his hand.  
  
"N-no, I just cut myself," he stammered. "Nothing serious. I  
need to get home now." Ranma backed up a few steps before walking  
away. He did not want to talk to the planetary guard now. Too many  
questions and not enough answers. He had to get back to the high  
school. Screw going home.  
  
The guard, also named Joe, just looked on with suspicion. No  
one was that nervous without hiding something. That guy who gave him  
a word of warning about a boy with a bleeding wrist was true. The location  
was even the exact spot the stranger said it would be. He adjusted his  
sword belt and followed Ranma at a distance. If he got too close then  
Ranma was sure to hear the clanking of his armor.  
  
********************************************  
  
Elder Mercury tapped her delicate finger on her throne.  
Boring, as usual. Life was never as enjoyable as she could have hoped,  
but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She turned to the man  
to her left, sitting on a small stool who was holding his head in pain.  
Maeda, the advisor, had a hangover.  
  
"It isn't as if it matters at all," thought Mercury. "There  
isn't anything important for him to do anyways. I can manage my own  
planet."  
  
"Advisor, is there anything on the schedule to do for today?"  
She asked in a somewhat tired voice. There was nothing more irritating  
than to following court etiquette for the sake of the court. She  
herself could run this place much more efficiently, but that would  
leave her vulnerable. She needed a scapegoat for safety's sake.  
  
"No my queen, there is not,"Maeda said, grimacing. Half a bottle  
next time, the middle-aged man who wasn't in his drinking prime was  
thinking as he massaged his temples. "Your notice has been sent.  
Anyone spreading rumors about the monster will be arrested." He drank  
a cup of wine next to him. When in doubt, drink some more. The stuff  
wasn't as good as sherry, but it'd do. The haughty ice queen just  
looked at him, disgusted at her advisor's apparent alchohol addiction.  
  
"There's hasn't been any rebel activity recently either. A  
pity too, I was hoping to do some more research on the rebel's  
behavior," she thought absently. A ring on her left hand glowed  
briefly, and Mercury sat up. Someone was coming. The ring was an early  
warning sign that someone new had entered the premise.  
  
Soon, a troupe of guards marched in and Maeda made a half-  
hearted effort to pay attention, but a sudden wave of nausea hit him  
and he collapsed back into his chair when he tried to stand. Mercury  
ignored him.  
  
"My queen," said the Captain, paying homage to the ruler of the  
planet. The rest of the soldiers followed suite, kneeling to the queen.  
  
Mercury waved off the court etiquette. "Yes yes," she replied  
irritably. "What is it?"  
  
"Trouble." The captain stood up, but the rest held their positions.  
"We have reports from the...guards...stationed in one of the towns. They  
have spotted a boy disrupting the peace. The rumor about the monster."  
  
"Strange, the royal notice was put up only yesterday too," she  
thought. "So? Why does this matter require the notice of the queen then?"  
She said aloud. "Just find the boy and throw him in the town jail."  
  
"My queen, there's more. We have not found this boy, but instead  
an old man."  
  
"And?"  
  
"This old man looked as though he was nearly gutted on the spot.  
There was a rather large puncture on his chest and he was breathing  
rapidly." The captain paused to wipe his brow. Now came the disbelief.  
"The old man said he was attacked by a monster. The one terrorizing the  
galaxy."  
  
"What?!" Mercury stood up, eyes flaring. The captain cowered  
under her gaze and the rest of the squad were gauging the distance from the  
throne to the door, wondering nervously just how quickly they could escape  
if she got mad. Or madder, as she already seemed to be mad. "Continue!"  
She demanded. The queen must know more about this. If it was true, or just  
some rumor, she had to know.  
  
"Th-there's not much else to say," stammered the Captain. "We've  
brought the man with us and threw him in the dungeon. We figured that you  
would want to question him like the others."  
  
"Others?" Mercury glared at him. Did he dare suggest that there was  
evidence before now about an infamous monster that terrorizes an entire  
galaxy and never spotted once ever leaving the planet it was rumored to have  
attacked on?  
  
The Captain's face turned white. "No," he protested. "My apologies,  
my queen, we meant that we suspected him to be a rebel."  
  
"Really?" she settled down into her seat. "And what brought on this  
flash of insight?"  
  
"He wears the symbol of the Furies on the inside of his shirt. It was  
a chance discovery, while we checked his wound. And he was working as a  
janitor."  
The Furies was a galaxy-wide organization. It was well known as a  
supporter of the rebel cause, but no one had found any permanent trace  
that they were what was thought of them. With many buildings on several  
planets, they were well-entrenched in the industry of the planets that  
they were situated on. The government could not rid themselves of these  
suspicious buildings without severe consequences. The disgruntlement of  
the peasants would further increase, because the Furies mainly dealt with  
the lower and middle classes. The gap that separated the two would be  
larger. The economy and the industry would be dealt a severe blow and  
might totally collapse.  
  
Nevertheless, they were carefully watched. This was the first time  
ever that one was caught doing business outside their, well, business.  
A school janitor was not the type of work they did.  
  
"Very good. I commend you and your men, captain." Mercury tapped  
a slender fingernail on the armrest. What to do, what to do. The soldiers  
all had a smirk on their faces; with a compliment from the queen good  
things were sure to happen. "Your new task is to find this boy. I will not  
allow him to spread discontent through the city. This meeting is over."  
The queen nodded to her advisor, who understood what he needed to do and  
hurried off.  
  
"Action, huh?" snorted one of the soldiers, elbowing his companion.  
"Yeah, finding a needle in a haystack would have as much action as this!"  
  
"All right, so I was wrong," grumbled the companion sourly. "Not  
like anything happens around here anyways, unless its some damn revolt  
or something."  
  
******************************************************  
  
The high school was empty, only a spot of blood on the ground to  
show that anyone had ever been there. Ranma collapsed on the ground and  
trembled. Where the hell was George? There was no way the old man could  
walk away on his own with a frickin hole in his stomach. Granted, it  
didn't seem immediately life threatening, but still...  
  
The old man was hurt...or worse... and it was probably Ranma's fault.  
He didn't mean to, didn't even know if it really was his fault, but it  
seemed like it and thats all that mattered. The guilt was there, for  
reasons imagined or not.  
  
School hadn't even gotten out. They were still there, the students,  
oblivious to their surroundings, oblivious to anything that didn't concern  
them. It was really surprising, that no one had even bothered to look out  
the window just once out of boredom. That's all he needed right now; for  
someone to look out the window and find him crouching over a stain of blood,  
with a bandaged arm. The seemingly average paranoid pigtailed noble stood  
up. There was nothing left to do but wait. George said three days.  
  
Ranma cursed. "Damn that monster," he swore under his breath as he  
walked out the school gates. "I don't even know if George set the meeting  
point now. I might be stuck here forever alone because of a chance  
meeting with fate. Fate who walked on four legs with claws long enough to  
decapitate me with a single strike."  
  
The school seemed like a distant shadow now. It was fast becoming  
an unwanted memory. Ranma would probably never see it again after the  
day was out.  
  
******************************************************************  
  
The guard, Joe, that had followed Ranma backed up into an alleyway.  
Well, this was certainly new. A spot of blood at the school, and the boy  
was a part of it somehow. A murderer, maybe? Joe rubbed his chin as he  
thought. This boy...there was something strange about him. He was  
paranoid, most likely. The way he was always on the lookout. But  
besides that, he looked like he knew something. Something important.  
  
Being a guard for several decades, he'd learned a few tricks while  
wandering the streets. A good judge of character was almost necessary for  
a town guard on the lookout for thieves and such. It was at times like   
this  
that it really came in handy.  
  
He didn't normally do things like this, but Joe had an uneasy feeling  
about that kid. It didn't settle well with him.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Maeda couldn't believe it. His own son. It was his own flesh and blood  
that was running amok trying to spread discontent around. It had taken a   
bit  
of work, more than a little actually, what with all the crap that was going   
on  
in the cities and villages, but it had been worth it. Or hadn't been,  
depending on how one looked at things.  
  
"My son, how could you? I had such high hopes for you...at least you  
could have gone out and had some fun before trying to ruin your families   
name,"  
he said sadly. "Oh well, there aren't many babes in jail, but you're gonna  
have to improvise, son. Or something."  
  
Maeda decided to make some preparations. Might as well get it over  
with. If luck was with them, Maeda and Uriko would have permission to have  
another child by the end of the week. Better to start early than late.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
"Time for another "lesson in life" from the parents," Ranma thought as  
he looked up the house. Strangely, there weren't any lights lit. What was   
going  
on?  
  
The entire house was dark. The icicle's hung with a dark foreboding  
glimmer.  
  
The paranoid youth put his ear to the wall, but heard nothing. Especially  
paranoid, after the disapearance of George and the disapearing monster.  
  
What was there to hear anyways? What did he expect to hear? His mother  
scratching away at a piece of paper with her pencil, making plans on her   
life, his  
life, and his fathers life? His father, a drunken lush who happened to   
stumble  
upon the job as the queen's advisor, the most vulnerable job that could be   
had in  
the royal court, drinking and moaning about how life dealt him a sorry hand?   
Or  
himself, bitching about life being 'wrong'? Thats what he saw himself as   
right now.  
Bitching about life. About how it didn't work out the way he wanted so he   
was  
leaving.  
  
For his whole life, next to the crap his parents put him through, nothing  
had ever worked out. His school life was hell. No one had physically tried   
to push  
him around, he wasn't the type to be bullied. No, it was worse, as if he   
didn't  
exist. Was it better to be hurt and acknowledged, or ignored and forgotten?   
Ranma  
wasn't given the choice, it was already made for him. The teachers barely  
acknowledged him, besides to tell him to wait in the hall. They didn't   
respond to  
any of the students, who had learned this lesson early on and asked nothing.  
  
Life beyond school was nothing. He went to a gym to work out and play  
some sports, but those that he called friends weren't exactly friends   
anyways. Just  
acquaintances that would acknowledge him and were a little warmer to him   
than  
people were to strangers. And that was the story of Ranma's life. Nothing.  
  
Except for now. Ranma heard something squeaking. It faded to silence  
as the moments passed.  
  
"Strange," Ranma thought, pressing his ear to the door. "What was that?  
I'm almost positive we don't have talking rats in the house. Is Pops moving   
some  
furniture? Nah, the old guy would probably break his back."  
  
He opened the door. There was nothing, except a few torches lit that  
gave off a dull glow that enveloped the large room, but gave off little   
warmth.  
  
Something was setting Ranma's nerves on edge. Or maybe it was just  
the events of the day, but he slowly made his way up the stairs instead of   
bolting up  
the stairs to his room. There was someone drinking in his room, heavy   
drinking,  
because Ranma could smell the brandy from halfway up the stairs, and the   
light in  
his room was the only light at the top of the stairs.  
  
"Dad, what the...what are you doing drinking in MY room?" Ranma  
asked, exasperate. He didn't want to sleep with the smell of brandy   
everywhere.  
  
Ranma opened the door, and on the table sat his dad. He was not only  
drinking, but he was smoking. Dammit, the old man was trying to get him to   
move  
out or something by making his room smell like crap!  
  
"Hey Pops, just what do you think your doing drinking and smoking in my  
room?" Ranma asked, more than a little irritated.  
  
"Well son, the drinking and smoking is to prepare me for what I'm going  
to tell you." Maeda took a deep draft from his cigar before continuing.  
  
"Son, you know me and your mother have always loved you. We always  
wanted the best for you, and although our views may have been different, we   
both  
have shown you how much we care."  
  
"Care? Yeah, you've shown me that much. You didn't blink an eye when  
I nearly commited suicide because of depression for crying out loud! Nor   
have you  
ever said anything besides 'get laid' and you expect me to believe that you   
care?"  
Ranma thought angrily. He bit his tongue and waited for the rest of the   
lecture.  
  
"But now we're going to have to let you go."  
  
"What? Back that up. You're letting me go? You make this sound like  
I was just fired from a job!"  
  
"Well, not quite. Son, you've been charged with criminal activities.  
Whatever it was you were doing today was against the law. So this will be   
our  
last goodbye."  
  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT OLD MAN?!"  
He screamed, clenching his fists and walking up to face Maeda. "I was   
attacked!  
I needed help, and thats a criminal activity?"  
  
"Well...I guess so." Maeda picked up the nearby bottle and drank half of  
it in a gulp. He wasn't exactly reasoning at that point. "Sorry son, but   
its the only  
way I can keep my job. It is your own fault, but maybe if your mother and I   
had  
taught you better this never would have happened..."  
  
It was at that moment, from behind the curtains, from behind the door, and  
from the corner far corner, three men fully decked out in plate mail   
appeared, each  
holding a short sword and a knife in their belts.  
  
"...but there is nothing to do now but bid you a farewell. You are  
disowned from this family, boy. You will have no more contact with it this   
family  
or its inhabitants." With that problamation Maeda finished off his third   
bottle  
of alchohol, this one whiskey. "Well, now disowned son, you're going to   
jail.  
There aren't any girls there, but I'm sure you'll improvise or something."  
  
"That fat drunken bastard!" Ranma swore silently. Even thought the old  
man was his father, the man he'd known his whole life, he wanted to kill   
him, hurt  
him, anything. The man had broken the trust he ever had in his family, no   
matter  
how much he disliked his family. Except now he couldn't do anything.  
  
Ranma looked around. He was surrounded, the door was blocked and the  
only other way out was the window, which was a from the second floor. More  
actually, since he was lucky enough to have his window hang over a cliff   
that would  
add another floor to the fall, and the snow wasn't likely to break his fall   
at all.  
No way out. But maybe...  
  
"Screw you all, and screw the law!" Ranma yelled, picking up a chair and  
throwing it at the nearest guard. Ranma rushed past the guard, bending low   
as to  
avoid any reaching arms, as the chair impacted with the guard's arm. The   
guard in  
front of the window braced himself and held his weapons ready, thinking that   
Ranma  
was planning on tackling him out the window over the edge.  
  
Ranma might have been thinking that, but he quickly changed the plan when  
the guard protecting the window stood ready. Acting quickly, he picked up   
an empty  
bottle off the ground and threw it at the guard's head.  
  
The bottle shattered and the guard winced, but little else happened as the  
guard was wearing a helmet. However it did distract him long enough for   
Ranma to  
knock him to the side and leap out the window.  
  
Maeda took a step forward, startled that Ranma would prefer death or  
permanent incapacitation, for there was no medical care in jail, over giving   
up  
quietly.  
  
Ranma was not planning on going to jail. He grabbed the branch that was  
just out of sight below the window and swung down to ground level.  
  
Too bad Ranma had no training in such tactics. He had probably  
dislocated a wrist or a joint, not to mention a bruising upon landing,   
rather  
badly at that. He had strained both his arm muscles and they hurt like hell  
too. He wasn't prepared for the sudden halt in momentum that the tree   
branch  
brought. The bandage around his injured hand started turning red again.  
Still, It was better than being arrested. He could still run too, which was   
a  
plus.  
  
Too bad he didn't know there was a guard named Joe that had been  
following him from town.  
  
"Infidel!" Joe yelled. He drew his sword. "I knew there was something  
amiss when I saw you in town. Now surrender, or die!"  
  
"I just get all the luck," Ranma muttered. Too bad, this time he didn't  
have a chair or bottle to distract the guy. Oh well, time to do things the   
old  
fashion way.  
  
"Hey look, a three headed monkey riding a spoon!" Ranma pointed  
behind Joe.  
  
"Huh? What?" Joe turned around confused, and Ranma bolted. Joe  
would never catch him now, with his the bulky armor. Ranma took advantage   
of  
his short lived head start and ran like the wind in the opposite direction.  
  
"Shit!" Joe cursed. He looked up. The guards couldn't see him, but   
they'd  
hear him.  
  
"He'd headed for the woods to the south!" He shouted to the window  
as he ran to the nearest stable. He'd get to the nearest town and alert the   
militia.  
  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Ranma didn't care about family. He didn't care about some damn monster.  
He didn't care about being alone for so long. Right now all he cared about   
was  
escaping from the ones that chased him. If they caught him, he'd be thrown   
in  
prison.  
  
Ranma remembered some of the things George had told him. The rumors.  
People that went in never came out the same way as before. Would the same   
thing  
happen to him, too? Or would he be killed? Imprisoned for life?  
  
None of the choices sounded very desirable, which was why Ranma was  
still running.  
  
Ranma made his way through the woods, weaving left and right to avoid  
running into any trees. He knew the area like the back of his hand. Well,   
the  
hand that didn't have 16 stitches in the the wrist at least.  
  
Weaving around the trees Ranma ignored everything. He had to keep his  
mind focused on one thing: to escape. He still did not know what had gone   
awry  
in his life.  
  
It would take him a half an hour of looking over his shoulder and forging a  
path through the powdery snow to reach the town he was trying to get to.   
Once  
there, Ranma would have to figure out what to do.  
  
***************************************************************  
  
Queen Mercury slouched on the chair. No one was there, and it was unlikely  
that anyone would be coming anytime soon. Nothing left to do. She decided   
to  
visit her daughter. To check up on her studies and such. Queen Mercury   
walked to  
the royal bedroom, where Princess Ami spent most of her time.  
  
Ami was in her young adult life. The girl was very intelligent from what   
the  
tutors had said. She was going to finish schooling by the time all the   
others of  
her age were starting college. The one problem was that she hadn't been   
exhibiting  
any skills in ruling a planet whatsoever so far. That would probably come   
with age,  
but the Queen didn't know if her daughter's attitude was right for ruling.   
Ami's  
personality was too much an intellectual and not enough of a take charge   
type. The  
queen knocked on the door to announce her arrival.  
  
"Yes mother?" Ami looked up from the book she was reading. Some sort of  
sappy romance novel.  
  
"Hello, Ami. I just came by to see how you are doing."  
  
"I've finished my studies for the day, if that is what you are referring   
to."  
  
"No dear, I just want to know how you are doing. What do you do in your  
spare time these days? What activities do you like to do? That sort of   
thing."  
  
"Well, mother, my first and foremost hobby has always been to read. It's   
been  
that way since I was in elementary school. For what I do, I like learning   
how to do new  
things, then try them out."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Magic."  
  
"Oh." Queen Mercury wasn't sure if she wanted Ami to learn magic yet.  
Magic was not easy to learn, nor control. If Ami already knew how to cast   
spells by  
now, then she's be a danger to many people. Or maybe...she was the next   
Senshi?  
"Can you cast spells yet?" Ami shrugged.  
  
"Only minor ones right now. I'm having trouble with some spells."  
  
"That's quite an achievement in itself, to cast spells at all." Again, Ami  
shrugged as if to say 'nothing to it'. "I hope keep up the progress. You   
may be  
destined for great things later on." Leaving that thought hanging, Queen   
Mercury  
left the room. Ami went back to her studying. She knew nothing of Senshi   
or these  
'great things' her mother was talking about. She'd worry about it later.  
  
  
Outside, A figure cloaked in darkness crouched by the window. He'd spent a  
great deal of time and energy getting this close to the queen. He hoped   
that it  
hadn't been wasted. So far, he'd heard some interesting things, but nothing   
enough  
to warrant the hardships it had taken him to get to the palace.  
  
"So the princess is a natural spellcaster," the cloaked man mused. "Maybe   
she  
isn't tainted by the same curse her mother is inflicted with. If not, she   
may be a  
senshi."  
  
Not so much a curse as a personality makeover. No one really knew what had  
happened to the queen. The queen had not been entirely changed; she still   
acted the  
same way as always towards her daughter.  
  
The man dressed in black, so as to hide in the shadows, crept up to the   
next  
window. His magically enhanced hearing trying desperately to pick up   
information  
that could help him.  
  
  
"My queen!"  
  
A guard ran down the hall and stopped to kneel in front of Queen Mercury.   
She  
gestured for him to stand up.  
  
"Yes, what is it?"  
  
"The boy, the one from the school, has escaped!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"He's inside the Frozen Woods and is making his way towards the town. I   
don't  
know the name."  
  
"Send a squad to patrol the town. This boy will be found." The queen   
gritted  
her teeth. She really didn't care about a snot nosed kid telling tall   
tales. It was  
a matter of principle. If anyone found out what this boy was doing, that he   
was  
disobeying the most recent law, than others might try also just to spite the   
royalty.  
If any of the royalty found out, it would undermine her political power.   
Those  
bloodsuckers were experts at taking the smallest story, rumor even, and   
using it to  
topple the most powerful of families. "Move it!" She barked.  
  
  
"Something useful for once," the man in black murmured. The boy...the one  
George had been talking about? The old man was, by all accounts, still   
working at the  
school where the boy went. If something had come up, George would have been   
the  
first to know and have told them. It couldn't have been that boy. Whoever   
it was must  
have been pretty gutsy to have pulled off a stunt to do something that   
angered the queen.  
Intruiged, the man in black decided to take another step forward. He wanted   
to know  
who this boy was.  
  
The man climbed the side of the palace, placing himself between a wall and  
a tree, he 'walked' up the wall. He needed to hear more. Right now he   
wasn't satisfied  
with the bits and pieces he already had.  
  
  
The queen paced her room. Damn those fools! If only they had been doing  
their jobs right this wouldn't have happened. What kind of rabble was   
recruited for  
the guards anyways? She summoned another guard to her room. The guard  
awaited her orders.  
  
"I need you to keep an eye on Maeda. He must be dealt with if he causes  
any trouble."  
  
"My queen?"  
  
"The man is the father of the criminal. He may act rashly if something   
does  
not happen quickly. We must be prepared if that does happen, for his own   
good."  
  
The guard saluted, then left. The queen sat down and sighed heavily. She  
didn't need to stupid buffoon to run the government, but there were times   
where she  
wished she could place some of the burden on top of him so she could think   
with a  
clearer head. It was too bad that it had to be Maeda's son to break away.  
  
  
"Maeda...Maeda...who is that?" The man tapped his chin. "Oh yeah, isn't  
he the...queen's advisor? What about him? The father of the criminal?   
That means  
his child..."  
  
The man slapped his forehead in exasperation. The answer was obvious;  
Maeda's son was the boy George had been talking about, and he was on the   
run.  
But why hadn't George told them anything? If anything wrong had happened,   
he was  
the one who should have alerted them. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe it   
wasn't the  
one and the same boy George had been talking about. The man really wanted   
to stay  
and wait for some more information, but his intuition was telling him that   
something  
was wrong, that there was a reason George hadn't told them anything.  
  
"Damn," he thought. "We were hoping that we wouldn't need to take him  
for another couple of days. George told us he was near to become ready, but   
the  
boy has no choice now. Time to go rescue some punk kid." The man made sure   
his  
boots were tied tightly and ran across the courtyard, avoiding the guards   
and leaping  
over the palace walls. "Why do I always have to be the babysitter?" He   
asked himself  
belatedly.  
  
  
"This isn't happening to me!" Ranma yelled out. He was running down the  
street, with a wild look in his eyes. That may very well have been because   
from all  
around him there were men in armor everywhere, ready to throw him in jail or   
kill him  
him if he resisted. Well, he was resisting, so jail wasn't much of an   
option. "Not  
happening, not happening, not happening!" Ranma skidded to a hald and   
rounded a  
corner. Definitely a bad day.  
  
  
"He's headed down the alley!" Someone cried out. There were people  
everywhere, staring at him and pointing.  
  
"Why can't anyone in this place mind their own business?" Ranma thought  
furiously. "I swear, its as if they never saw someone being chased by an   
army of  
guards."  
  
Ranma lost track of which street he ended up in after turning left, then   
right,  
then right again, and so on, and eventually just kept running in a straight   
line,  
running and hoping to lose them.  
  
He should have realized that it was hopeless. After a couple minutes at  
running as fast as he did, Ranma was getting tired, fast. His breathing   
quickened  
and he stopped in another random alley to catch. A hand snaked out and   
wrapped  
around the surprised boy's neck from behind. Ranma, surprised, flailed   
about and tried  
to cry out.  
  
"Shut up, you stupid brat! You'll attract their attention," The voice  
whispered urgently.  
  
Ranma stopped struggling and calmed down. The guards passed by and the  
hand relaxed. Ranma turned around to see this mysterious person. The man   
snorted.  
From look the guy was giving him, like the grimace you get when you eat a   
bad meal,  
he wasn't at all satisfied with what he saw in Ranma. Ranma, aware of the   
scrutiny,  
narrowed his eyes and his posture changed to a more arrogent stance. Who   
was this guy  
to judge him anyways?  
  
"You the boy George was talking about?"  
  
"George? The high school janitor?"  
  
"Yes, him. Are you that...kid he was talking about?"  
  
"I suppose..." Ranma was wary of this man. He could tell right now that   
he  
wasn't in the man's good graces.  
  
"Come with me, unless you're planning on dying here." The man  
turned to the shadows.  
  
"Wait a second! Just who are you? How did you know I'd come here?" The   
man  
turned around.  
  
"Do you really have time for these meaningless questions? Your going to be   
hunted  
down like a criminal-no wait, you already are being hunted, and most likely   
executed if you're  
caught. I'm not going to stay here to coddle you and make you feel safe,   
risking my own life  
doing it. Either follow me or die."  
  
"You had better be worth it, kid," He stated before he walked  
into the shadows of the nearest frozen building in sight.  
  
Ranma cursed and kicked the wall. He didn't have any choice here. The man   
was  
right. There was no time for questions. So Ranma walked into the shadow,   
fully prepared to  
hit a brick wall.  
  
He didn't.  
  
"What the?!" Ranma exclaimed before missing the first step of the stairs   
and  
falling down long row of jutting rocks before landing on his side. "Oww..."   
He mumbled  
  
As he looked up, the sight that greeted him wasn't very friendly. A small   
tunnel,  
barely large enough to stand in, led into the gloomy darkness. A single   
torch, which the the  
mystery man lifted from his sconce, was the only illuminating source of   
light.  
  
"Get up, boy. The sooner we leave the better." His cold words were tinged   
with  
impatience. Mr. cloaked man didn't even bother to look around or wait for   
Ranma to stand  
before walking into the darkness.  
  
"H-hey, wait up!" Ranma stood to his feet unsteadily and ran to catch up.  
  
Behind him, unknowingly, the small, dog-like creature stared at the tunnel   
with its  
beady eyes. It leaped down to the ground level from the stairs and stalked   
its prey stealthily.  
  
  
"Hurry up, boy." The man quickened his pace, eager to see this mission   
over with.  
  
"Would ya stop calling me boy?" Ranma asked, irritated. He hurried to   
catch up.  
"I have a name you know."  
  
"Not one that I care to know, so keep quiet." the man didn't even turn   
around as he  
coldly stated this.  
  
"Bastard," Ranma muttered under his breath. He desperately wanted to   
counter this  
arrogant jerk's statement about himself with what he could do, except the   
problem was that he  
didn't have the skill to back it up. "Someday I'll show you, and shove   
those words down your  
throat."  
  
He didn't have much time to dwell on his imagination of physically shoving   
words  
down the man's throat. A gloved hand blocked his path and he stopped   
walking abruptly.  
  
"We're here." He said.  
  
What 'here' was wasn't much. A small room with a mirror. Ranma expected   
people;  
he expected a giant room with torches lighting the entire place, or maybe   
magical globes of light  
hanging from the ceiling. What he got was a small cramped room with a   
tarnished mirror.  
  
"Well, I guess I shouldn't have been expecting anything anyways," He   
thought dourly.  
"Who knew that I'd be a convict running away from the royal guards? Or that   
my father was  
such a pansy? Or that I would nearly break my arms falling out of that   
tree? Or that that...  
THING would chase me from school." He still shuddered at the memory of it.   
"Come to think  
of it, the thing just ran off. Where did it go?"  
  
The answer came to him, literally, as he felt a heavy weight slam down on   
his  
shoulders. Ranma cried out in shock and surprise, hitting the ground hard.   
It hissed and stared  
into his eyes, showing no emotion whatsoever in those black, pupil-less   
orbs. Ranma knew he  
was going to die when he saw the shadow of scythe-like claw in the light of   
the flame draw  
back. All that crap he'd just been through and he'd die now. The claw came   
down in a fast,  
swishing motion and Ranma closed his eyes  
  
His yell of pain drew the man's attention.  
  
"Stupid boy," He muttered to himself. He drew a thin, shining object out   
of his pocket  
and stuck both ends into the wall. He reached behind him to halt the   
claw's descent and gripped  
it.  
  
"You're more trouble than your worth," He stated coldly, throwing the   
beast in front  
of him. The beast fell, but didn't hit the ground. The shining object the   
man had attached to the  
walls was a thin wire, and the beast was right on top. A little more weight   
and the wire would  
cut right through him.  
  
The man did just that by bringing his foot down upon the monster, slicing   
it in half.  
  
"Wh-who are you anyways?" Ranma was stunned. This guy had just killed   
that  
creature in less than a minute without breaking a sweat!  
  
"Heh. Just call me Bob." Bob picked up his metal wire and pocketed it.   
"Put your  
hands on the mirror." He reached into his sleeve and brought out a tiny   
glass bead, which he  
crushed and dropped the powder to the ground.  
  
Ranma watched with curiosity. With his attention turned to the bead, he   
didn't notice  
that the old, dull mirror had lost its reflective quality and reflected the   
image of another room.  
Or that he could walk through it. With Ranma's sudden loss of support he   
fell forward face first.  
  
"...Next time, warn a guy, will ya?" He muttered, rubbing his nose.  
  
"Feh! Its your own fault for not paying attention." Bob walked over Ranma   
and  
grabbed his arm, pulling him up. "Say goodbye to Mercury, because you won't   
be seeing it for  
a long, long time, if ever."  
  
Ranma looked backward at the rapidly dulling mirror. The image slowly   
faded back  
to reflect the room, and with it faded Ranma's worries. He was no longer on   
Mercury, and he  
could have a fresh start.  
  
"Don't get soft on me now, boy. We still have to leave Venus, and it's not   
gonna be  
that easy as this was." 


	4. The Right Path 4

The Right Path   
AceTalon  
  
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi  
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi  
Iria Zeiram by Keita Amemiya  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Note: If anyone is wondering why Ranma's name is Ranma, even though this  
is a helluva long time ago in the past, its to prevent confusion. That   
and a lack of desire to be creative with names. It makes it easier on   
me when I'm in a slump so I don't accidentally revert back to their  
original names.  
  
  
Zeiram looked down at the vast city, which radiated from the   
center like a circular wave of spreading poverty. On the outskirts   
were the backbone of the city, the workforce that labored under the   
whip of society. They were the one who really kept cities afloat, as   
did the middle class. But at the very base, the center where the circle  
fanned out from, it was the pinnacle of stupidity, the rich and the  
wealthy slobs that dominated life yet had little to offer to it. The  
Zeiram didn't give a damn about that. They had the most time on their  
hands to do the crap that high-lifestyle nobles do; still, they WERE  
the best chances to find a particularly skilled recipient for his  
attentions.  
  
It was almost time to find new prey. Zeiram kept his unblinking  
gaze towards the sky, waiting to feel the familiar pressence of one of  
his own, meaning of course the spores he planted earlier. They should  
be back at any moment now... and there they were, speeding toward his  
hand with seemingly nothing to propel them forward but the air currents  
alone.  
  
He held his outstretched hand and allowed it to settle. The  
spore melted into his hand, once again becoming one with Zeiram, giving  
him the knowledge that it had acquired, giving him the visions that the   
spore itself saw. Zeiram's red eyes flared, and he leaped into the air.  
He now had his next target. And they would -not- live to see the next  
day.  
  
  
  
"Boy, I swear I'll leave you here if you don't get your ass in   
gear." 'Bob' looked behind him at Ranma's collapsed form.   
  
"S-sorry. Just gimme a sec." Ranma wasn't tired in the least.  
He just couldn't believe this guy. His-name-is-BOB. At first he   
didn't really think about it, but after a few moments, he just couldn't   
stop grinning. Ranma was exerting all his willpower trying not to laugh.  
He stood weakly, still facing away from Bob.  
  
Bob rolled his eyes in disgust.   
  
"Why do I have to get stuck with the weak ones?" He muttered   
to himself. "They can't travel anywhere on foot. We've still got a  
few days to go until I can sponge this kid off on someone else to   
take."  
  
Ranma shook his head to compose himself and hurried to catch   
up.  
  
The landscape was vastly different from on Mercury. Ranma had   
left the cramped little room to enter a world of change. Tall,   
green palm trees were everywhere. Jungle plants littered the ground  
and clogged the nearly invisible path that Bob followed. The  
temperature had to have shot up by at least sixty degrees as well.  
Ranma shed his heavy coat and slung it over his shoulder, just  
noticing how friggin hot it was. He ditched his gloves and scarf,  
thinking that they'll never be needed anyways.  
  
Bob ignored him and kept walking. He wasn't at all bothered by  
the sudden change in temperature. He neither sweat nor grew tired.   
His black outfit didn't seem to bother him in the least.  
  
"How does he do that?" Ranma watched him curiously. Well, no   
use pondering over it now.  
  
  
After long hours of monotonous walking, with no sign of excitement.  
Bob stopped moving. His face was expressionless as a slab of marble.  
Ranma looked at bob quizzically, but Bob said nothing. He did nothing,  
except to draw a funny looking shaped thing out of his pocket and hide it  
under his cloak.   
  
"Get back, boy." His tone brooked no argument. "We've got   
company." Bob scanned the dense foliage, tensed and ready for anything.  
  
Ranma backpedaled a few paces before trying to imitate Bob in  
staring through the brush. He didn't know exactly what he was looking  
for, but whatever it was it was enough to put Bob on his guard. Still,  
Ranma could have probably seen it five times over and not even know   
he'd seen it. There was always a chance.  
  
After several tense moments, Bob visibly relaxed. He picked up  
a rock and chucked it through the underbrush.   
  
"Oiy." He called out. "Come out, Gren. I know your hiding   
in there."  
  
  
Ranma heard a soft curse muttered and a soft swish. Before he   
knew it the world had turned upside down and a sharp pain flowed   
straight to his ankle.   
  
"Hey!" He cried out surprised and indignant. "What the hell   
is this? Lemme down!"  
  
Bob watched Ranma, slightly amused. Swishing gently back and   
forth, the simple trap had caught Ranma's ankle and held him suspended   
in the air. Ranma's grimace looked pretty ridiculous upside down, and   
Bob even chuckled to himself a little.   
  
"You'd be viewing the world in a new perspective too if you had   
just taken another step, Bob," The voice remarked. The figure jumped   
down from the tree right above Bob and picked up the simple .  
  
Gren was a fairly tall guy. He wore beads in his  
whiteish-blond hair and wore fairly unremarkable clothing, that Ranma   
could see, aside from having so many pockets and many pouches around his  
belt. Most of his clothes were covered by a large cloak as it was. Calm  
and collected, The guy's demeanor practically shouted 'cool' by anyone who  
saw him. Gren jerked a thumb at the upside down pissed off Ranma. "Who's  
the squirt, anyways?"  
  
"Who knows? I don't really care." Bob shrugged and holstered his   
gun. Ranma took a good look at the weapon. What was it?  
  
"Oh? Then where're you taking him?" Gren inquired.   
  
"To 'them.'  
  
"Really? I thought you were the one who said we weren't going   
to get involved with 'them' and their affairs."  
  
Bob rolled his eyes.   
  
"It isn't as if I didn't know you already accepted a contract   
from them without coming to me about it." Bob said this pointedly at  
Gren, reminding him that Bob WAS the one who got him all his job  
contracts.  
  
Gren held his hands up halfheartedly in a warding motion.  
  
"Hey, 'boss', you know I just can't help it when it comes to   
people's lives. I'm not in this for any freedom revolution nonsense."  
  
Bob snorted. Obviously he didn't really believe that.   
  
"Hey...guys? You gonna help me down now?" Ranma, ignored,   
was strangely calm for how irritated he was feeling. They were getting   
pretty engrossed in their conversation there, he wasn't sure if they'd   
remember anytime soon.  
  
Without missing a beat, Gren whipped out a sword, sliced a rope   
thinly disguised amonst the foliage, and returned the sword to its   
proper place without missing a beat. Ranma plummeted to the base of the   
tree, and there just happened to be a very, very large root sticking out   
where his head was going to land.  
  
*thud*  
  
"Oww! That really hurt, you jerk!" Ranma said, spitting a curse,  
sitting up and clutching his head in pain. He glared at the root.  
  
"Get up, boy, you'll live," Bob said, giving Ranma only half his   
attention. He continued his conversation with Gren. "Kind of a  
coincidence, meeting you on Venus of all places. I don't suppose you were  
waiting for your me, were you?"  
  
"Don't get your hopes up, Bob. I'm supposed to be on the lookout   
for some slave traders or something.   
  
"How many slavers? Three or four?"  
  
"Actually, its supposed to be about seven or eight. Heavily armed,   
with a mage."  
  
"They sent just you out to take out seven or eight slavers? Who was  
the idiot that you got THIS contract from?" Bob looked at Gren with  
disbelief.  
  
"Don't remember. I wrote his name down somewhere," Gren replied,  
shrugging casually.   
  
"From the Furies?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You hitting one of the main caravans of the season or something?  
Since when do they ever send that many heavily armed men with slaves?  
  
"This time I guess. You coming Bob?"   
  
"Do you need to ask?" Bob slipped his hand into another pocket  
and pulled out a half used cigarrete. Drawing a deep breath, he shook  
his head as he exhaled. "You sure know how to pick em. Lets go."  
  
"What about him?" Gren gestured towards Ranma.  
  
"Oh, him." Bob turned to face Ranma. "Hey, Boy. Head east for  
about 5 miles. Eventually you'll hit a town. Go to the 'Venus Flytrap'  
inn and I'll pick you up. If anyone asks you anything, just shut up and  
stay silent.  
  
"..." The look Ranma gave Bob was a cross between irritation,  
frustration, and just plain confusion.   
  
"Ready, Bob?"  
  
"No. Lets go."  
  
The two of them disapeared, leaving Ranma alone. There was a  
small pouch left on the ground. Ranma picked it up tenatively, eyeing  
its contents. Now he wasn't totally broke.  
  
"...jerks," He muttered. Well, at least Bob had left him some  
money. Maybe he could rent a room or something.  
  
  
-Sometime much later-  
  
"Welcome to the Venus Flytrap! How may I serve you?" The lady  
gave Ranma a big smile and winked at him. She eyed his goods, as they  
seemed to be on display, with a strange sort of disconcerting hunger.  
  
The town was a medium sized, quaint type of town. To Ranma's  
eye, there wasn't much to it besides a slew of houses and buildings.  
Nothing stood out, and nothing piqued his interest. Even the building  
itself, though well kept and in good repair, was just begging   
to be ignored and left in the shadows.  
  
To add to the ungodly amount of time Ranma spent just trudging  
towards the town, he spent a good sized portion of his afternoon  
wandering the town to find the Venus Flytrap. To top it off, this planet  
was intensely hot. After reaching the town, Ranma couldn't take it and he  
took off everything he could possibly leave behind without attracting  
attention. When he was done, all he had on was an undershirt, shoes, and  
his pants. He dropped the coat, since he'd probably never need it.   
  
Ranma's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped as be backed up against  
the wall, trying to control his breathing. He stared at the room, his eyes  
darting around, as if trying to make sense of such a foreign setting. His  
brain failed miserably at that and he just stood there, gaping, looking her  
over up and down several times in disbelief.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" The woman, who must have been a waiter of  
some sorts, looked at Ranma curiously.  
  
"E-excuse me, I'll be right back." With these words, he opened the door  
and slammed it behind him.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with that guy!?" Ranma thought to himself.  
"Bob sent me to an S&M parlor!"  
  
All the women were dressed in weird leather outfits that looked somewhat  
like leather leotards with a lot of straps along with strange leather boots  
that practically went up to the knees. There were candles everywhere, whips  
on the walls, and all the ladies were wearing platform shoes and high heels.   
  
A couple who passed by gave him a disgusted look.  
  
"Oh...your one of those perverts interested in 'that'." The girl said  
acidly. The guy wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively and glared  
at Ranma as he hurried by.  
  
"Huh, what? Hey, I'm not...!" Ranma gave up even trying; the couple  
had already left.  
  
"Th-that bastard!" Ranma thought viciously. "He probably did this on  
purpose just to embarass me." Ranma was turned around and toyed with the  
idea of walking away right there and then. He had no dying reason to royally  
embarass himself by going in that place and staying, nor had he earned the   
dirty looks of the people that passed by.   
  
Then Ranma thought about his situation a little more. He had no where  
else to go. He was a wanted man- boy according to Bob- on an unkown planet  
in what could be a hostile environment. It wouldn't take too much effort on  
his part to lose himself in the wilderness. He could just as easily lose  
himself in the town as well. Bob's instructions were his only key to doing  
something. Anything. If he passed it up, there's no telling where he'd end  
up. And Ranma hated that uncertainty much more than he hated the thought of  
being embarassed. What else could he do?  
  
With a sigh of resignation, Ranma turned on his heel and pushed the  
door open. If he could ever look at Bob on an equal footing, there would  
definitely be hell to pay.  
  
"Welcome back, how may we serve you?" The hostess smiled.  
  
"Yeah...Ineedaroom..." Ranma kept his eyes averted from the strange  
costume, determined not to stare at it.  
  
"I'm sorry? I can't hear you very well." She leaned in closer to  
hear what he said.  
  
"I s-said I need a room." Ranma arm was shaking slightly at his side  
as he tried to maintain his fight to keep his eyes lowered; whoever this  
woman was, she definitely wasn't afraid to invade a guy's personal space.   
  
"Alright!" She stepped back and beamed. "My name is Steph and I'll be  
the one serving during your stay for today."  
  
"S-s-serving?!" Ranma stuttered. She didn't mean...no, she couldn't,  
could she? That she'd...do something that he'd rather not know? He was edging  
towards the door, to hell with an uncertain future. There's no way he'd-  
  
"Come to this counter and ring the bell when you have need of me.  
Our services include making the beds, bringing you meals, giving baths if  
you wish, and everything else on the list that is provided in your room."   
  
Ranma gave a silent sigh of relief. This place wasn't an S&M  
establishment.   
  
"Or, if you prefer our more exotic services, we will have to charge  
extra. Call forme personally if that's what you wish." She winked and blew   
him a kiss. This kid was pretty cute, not to mention his body was pretty  
much on display, and she liked what she saw. She could do far worse than him.  
  
"..." Ranma didn't know what to say; all he could do was stare. Maybe  
his first misconception hit closer to home than he thought. Though his face  
was slightly red fromhis trek and the heat he was unused to, it was nothing  
compared to the scarlet red he felt from his embarrassment.  
  
She led him up some stairs, which led down a corridor with doors on  
each side. She opened a door and led him in.  
  
"Here's your room key. The number is on the key in case you get lost.  
You can pay once your stay is over, or pay now." She handed him a key,  
which Ranma accepted and mumbled his thanks. "By the way," she continued  
in a sultry voice, pushing up against him, the leather showing off her...curves  
nicely. "Would you like some company for today?" She drew a circle on his  
chest with her finger.  
  
Ranma nearly blacked out as he held his nose.   
  
"N-n-no, I think I'm uh, fine for today. Yeah," He stuttered, moving  
back slowly.  
  
"Are you sure? Its on the house for today." She looked at him in a  
very seductive, way for which Ranma shut his eyes. His face felt like it  
was on fire.  
  
"Yeah...I'm...okay...for...now." He collected himself with a deep,  
shuddering breath. "I'll..b-be sure to call you if I want some company."  
  
"Oh, alright." Steph was clearly disapointed, but she left him by  
himself.  
  
Ranma let out long sigh he didn't know he had been holding back.  
  
"Well, at least the room itself is normal, unlike the rest of the  
place," he thought to himself somewhat tiredly. "Though just why they would  
have two beds here I don't know..." He flopped on the bed and just stared  
at the ceiling. Everything was happening so fast. What had happened to him  
could have just as well occurred over a week, maybe two. For Ranma, he hadn't  
even had a day to figure out just what was going on. What _was_ going on?  
What was that weird creature that had chased him here? Why wasn't Bob  
even surprisedto see it? And just why was it so godawfully hot on this   
planet? Mercury was a helluva lot cooler than this planet!  
  
With all this to dwell upon, Ranma closed his eyes as he allowed the  
darkness overtake him. The last thought that drifted into his mind was  
about how those women walked around wearing that much leather in this heat.  
  
  
"You finished over there, Gren?" Bob called out, placing his foot on  
the brigand's back and using it as a foothold to help him tighten the ropes.  
The brigand cursed and muttered inanely as he stared at Bob with fury.  
There were several wagons, but few guards. The two of them had pulled off this  
job so easily that Bob wondered if he should have even worried that Gren  
couldn't handle it. The slavers themselves were the most inexperienced he'd  
seen yet. It took a scant second or two AFTER the slavers fell into the  
trap for them to realize they had been caught. Traveling the road, laughing  
loudly and bantering ceaselessly, they never saw it coming.   
  
"Yeah, no problems here," he called out as he walked through the mass   
of huddled people meticulously slicing the ropes that bound them. Most of the  
freed people ran out immediately to escape the confines of the wagons that  
carried them, free to do as they please, but a few did stop by to thank him  
before they left.  
  
"Thank you kind sir!" The woman said, thanking him. "And I hope that  
the Goddess give you her blessings!" She bowed to him, as did her husband,  
and ran off.  
  
Gren snickered. He needed no deity's blessing except for lady luck,  
and if she deigned not to give him any, then so be it. He's be damned  
before he'd let any higher power take control of his life. He did, however  
accept the folder that the husband gave him. before they left. That man was  
the main reason for this rescue, most likely. And the folder, the information  
that the group he accepted the contract from wanted. That was one problem  
Gren hated about these contracts was that they never mentioned the true  
objective of the mission. The contractors just assume that those who  
complete the contract would finish it without truly knowing. Gren was  
almost surprised that the papers weren't taken away by theguards.  
  
When the last of the refugee's left, Gren cracked his neck and leaned  
against a tree.   
  
  
"Well, that takes care of this group. Should we leave them here to  
rot?" Gren jerked his thumb uncaringly at the tied up posse.   
  
"Your call Gren. It was your contract."   
  
"Huh, yeah. But hell, I really don't feel like dragging their sorry  
asses through the jungle."  
  
"Then don't. How far away would you say the nearest town is? Two miles  
north?" Bob looked at the sky, mentally tracing a path in the air.  
  
"Yeah, about two miles, almost straight north." Gren nodded.   
  
"Tch. Close enough. Tie them to the wagons, and make sure they drag  
behind. They aren't getting a free ride here."  
  
"You gonna do what I think you're going to do?" Gren inquired,  
tightening the rope that held them to the wagon. He made sure they couldn't  
swing their legs up onto the wagons.  
  
"Of course." Bob did pull out a paper detailing the slaver's orders  
and stuck it into the floor of the wagon with a knife. "This should be enough  
evidence to get them a life sentence.  
  
"Hiyah!" He shouted, slapping the horse. The horse promptly sped  
forward, ignoring the helpless, hapless cries of its passengers. He watched  
the horse disapear off into the distance in a cloud of dust.   
  
"So...what about the other two wagons?"   
  
"Take the horses. Leave the wagons. Some else will probably pick em  
up. I've got to finish my own job. You coming?"  
  
"Is there some reason I wouldn't?"  
  
Gren and Bob unhitched the other horses from their restraints and saddled  
up. After a moment of silence, Gren spoke up.  
  
"Bob, I can't believe you told the boy to go to the Venus Flytrap," Gren  
remarked as he prepared his own horse for riding.  
  
"If he doesn't learn about that sort of thing now, he'll be in for a shock  
later. As much as I would like to be there to see that, it was the closest safe  
place I could think of for him." Bob said this all with a conviction that Gren  
almost believed him. If Gren hadn't known Bob for years, he'd be an instant  
believer.  
  
"You've got a sadistic sense of humour, Bob. I almost thought you really  
meant that." Bob just snorted  
  
"Bah, what do you know? Besides, Iria is going to be there. She's  
going to meet us at the Flytrap." Bob mounted his horse, as did Gren. "I did  
mention to her I was bringing you anyways."  
  
"You told her that? You didn't even know you would see me here," Gren  
said with disbelief.   
  
"It was just a ploy to get her to give me a hand, or she would mope around  
your place until you did come back. She adores you more than anything else in  
this galaxy, you know."  
  
"..." Gren just rolled his eyes, exhasperate. "Whatever. Lets go."  
  
  
"I'm sorry, Ranma..."  
  
Ranma opened his eyes, only to find the scenery from a nighmare to  
await his vision. What they beheld was war in its infinite terror, its  
terrible entirety. He couldn't close his eyes. For some reason, he just...  
couldn't close his eyes. Everyone there, all those that were slaughtered,  
he couldn't make out distinct facial features. Everyone rushed by him, as  
if he didn't exist. The distinction between opposing forces was dim. The  
uniforms themselves were too blurred, their clear cut edges that he should  
have seen were blurred as if everything was out of focus.   
  
"I'm sorry Ranma..."  
  
He heard that voice again! From where? Ranma's eyes darted around the  
battlefield, trying to pick out where that voice came from in this abstract  
world. He moved slowly. Though no one seemed to make contact with him, the  
sounds, the voices were frighteningly real. It was almost overwhelming. He  
still couldn't pick out that voice or where it came from...  
  
"I'm sorry Ranma..."  
  
Ranma froze. The voice...it was right behind him. Trembling, he turned  
around. Someone was crouched over a body. They whispered something, but this  
time Ranma was close enough to hear it.   
  
"I'm sorry Ranma, but I broke my promise."  
  
"You! You aren't supposed to be here!"  
  
Ranma whirled at the new, solid voice.  
  
The newcomer was just as blurred as everyone else. However, her, Ranma  
decided the voice had a definite feminine tone to it, voice was just as clear  
as if she was speaking directly into his ear.   
  
"I told you once! I'm not going to tell you another time. Leave now or  
face the consequences!" She spoke in a low tone, very softly, yet very  
threatening.  
  
Ranma shook his head helplessly. He didn't know where he was! How was  
he supposed to leave?"  
  
The unknown speaker paused, but only for a second, before drawing a  
long, very deadly looking double bladed staff. She literally flew over the  
ground as she charged Ranma's immbile form.  
  
  
"I warned you!"   
  
Ranma felt a crushing pain in his skull and groaned in pain. He  
clenched his eyelids shut and shoved the pillow over his head. Dammit, who  
was that harrassing him? It must have been past midnight!"   
  
"Go way!" He muttered angrily from beneath the pillow. "You know what  
time it is?"  
  
"Hey, I warned ya, buddy. Its time for you to get yourself outta my  
room!"   
  
Ranma felt a pair of fairly strong arms press against the side of his   
body and shove him hard, dumping him to the ground.  
  
"Hey!" He protested loudly, sitting up and glaring blearily at the  
newcomer. "What do you think you're doing?!"   
  
"Getting some freeloader bum out of my room, that's what I'm doing."  
The faintly outlined figure walked over to a small desk and fumbled around  
in the dark. After a few moments of silence, the sound of a match and the  
light of a candle illuminated the area. Once the light was lit and Ranma's  
eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, his jaw dropped at the newcomer.   
  
She was a semi tall brunette with short cropped hair with a small  
number of beads holding a few strands of hair clumped together at the side  
of her face. Though she had a well worn cloak that covered her whole body,  
Ranma caught the glimpse of a bodysuit and some white-ish looking armor.  
She carried a stance that spoke of a confidence in herself, yet in a  
feminine sort of way. She didn't have the happiest expression at the moment  
either.  
  
"So are you going to leave, or am I going to do things the hard way?"  
She inquired, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.  
  
"Wh-what are you talking about? This is MY room!" Ranma stated,  
pointing at the door. While normally he probably wouldn't have minded and  
asked for another room, it was late and he was tired. He couldn't remember  
was he was dreaming about, but it was an odd dream. Ranma didn't have many  
of those. The pain in his head was another reminder that this...somewhat  
wild-looking woman was probably violent as well.  
  
"Oh really?" She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him.  
"Then why did the clerk give me the key to this room then?" She held up a  
small key attached to a ring.   
  
"How should I know? Lemme sleep..." Came the muttered reply as Ranma  
dragged himself to the other bed. "_My_ key is over there." He waved behind  
him at the general area of the desk.  
  
"What are you talking about? There's no key there."  
  
"Wha?" Ranma turned around. Nope, no key. "Aw just great," he  
grumbled. "That crazy chick out there in the leather forgot to gimme my key."  
He rubbed his head and sighed. All he wanted was to go back to sleep.  
  
"Uh huh. Ok. Who was 'that person' anyways?" The cloaked newcomer  
sat on the bed and watched Ranma, amused.   
  
"Steph or something like that."  
  
"Ah, I suspected as much." She tapped her chin lightly.  
  
"Suspected as much? Why?"  
  
"She was the one who gave me the key."  
  
"...!"  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"Ranma."  
  
"Hello, Ranma. I'm Iria. Nice to meet you."  
  
"Yeah, nice to meet you too." He shook hands with her and smiled  
weakly. "What's up with this Steph person then?"  
  
"She's an old friend of mine." Iria chuckled to herself slightly.  
"I'm sure she did that just to get a kick out of it."  
  
  
"Hey Steph, I need a room. Any free?" She had asked. Steph was  
working the counter. She smiled at her old friend Iria and shuffled around  
in the key compartment.  
  
"'Lo, Iria. Sorry, but-," Steph had looked surprised when she  
reached into the key compartment and pulled out one, then smiled to herself.  
"Oh, nevermind. It seems we do have one open. That's the room with..."  
She nodded to herself. Steph handed the key to Iria and winked. "Sleep  
well, and good luck!"   
  
"I wondered what she was talking about," Iria thought idly. "What  
a nosy little..."  
  
"This whole place is weird," Ranma muttered.  
  
"Huh? What was that?"  
  
"This isn't...you know...like one of _those_ kinds of places, is it?"  
  
"Run that by me again?" Iria asked him somewhat tiredly.  
  
"Well, you know...the way they're dressed and all..."  
  
Iria stared at him, confused as to exactly what the hell Ranma was  
implying. Then she laughed. She laughed hard enough that she had to sit  
down as her legs grew weak. "Bwahaha! You think this is a pervert's dream,  
do you? S&M? Ahah, that's rich!"  
  
"I guess that's a no," He deadpanned, giving her a flat stare. He  
sat down on the bed on the opposite side and ran his hand through his hair.  
"Thank god, I thought this was just some cruel twist of fate."  
  
"Nah," She chuckled and pulled up a chair, straddling it and draping  
her arms over the backrest all in one smooth motion. Ranma watched her,  
impressed at just how graceful she seemed. He shook his head and turned away,  
blushing slightly. She might think he was a pervert or something if he  
stared. Iria, who saw his slight pause, kept a small smile to herself.  
"Though if you're here without a purpose, it could be. What are you doing in  
here, anyways? No one comes to the Venus Flytrap without reason."  
  
"Lets just say the Goddess decided that I needed to be punished, and  
here I am." Ranma looked out the window. He thought of his parents. Though   
he didn't really think about it as it happened, it really hurt that his  
parents would give him up so easily. The pain was fresh too, not even a week  
had passed since it happened. Sure, he didn't always appreciate their advice  
or their constant badgering, but they were his parents. They raised him and  
cared for him. For them to toss him to the wolves so easily made him wonder  
just how much they really cared about him.  
  
"Punished? How so?" Iria rested her head on her arm and looked at him.  
  
"Lost my family, lost my life, lost everything on Mercury. Lost it all  
only to be picked up by some annoying ass that only calls me 'boy' after  
magiking me to his inferno planet. I don't even know why I lost it all!"  
Ranma clenched his fist and shook his head. "Then Bob scares me to death  
when-"  
  
"Wait, Bob? You're talking about Bob?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Why, you know him?"  
  
"Fairly tall guy, has a small ponytail, dark skin? Wears a cloak  
like mine?" She gestured to the large cloth that wrapped around her entire   
body.  
  
"Yeah, that's him."  
  
"I see." Iria sat back on the bed and looked at him curiously. To   
her, he looked rather plain. He was kind of cute, but nothing about him   
really stood out to her. He was like anyone she could find off the street.   
Though it didn't look like he did much hard work, he was fit, from what she   
could see. He could use a new haircut though, that look just didn't fit   
him...  
  
Ranma, aware of the intense scrutiny he was under, shifted in his seat  
uncomfortably.  
  
"What are you doing?" He asked her nervously.   
  
"Hmm?" She looked up after giving him the up and down look over. "Oh,  
nothing. Just wondering about something." (Wondering just what Bob was   
planning on doing with you) she thought. "Go back to sleep." She waved her   
hand halfheartedly before getting into her bed.   
  
"That was _my_ bed," Ranma grumbled under his breath, slipping under  
the sheets of the other bed and putting the light out. He was too brain   
dead at the moment to think about anything else besides sleep.  
  
  
The scholar set his pens and pencils down and sighed, content. He stood   
up and stretched his muscles long accustomed to being hunched over a book in a   
cramped office. But not for much longer. His work on the "Social tendencies  
of the Silver Millenium" would surely win him the prized position as a member  
of the guild. He had found some truly interesting facts during the last  
hundred years. His findings were safe in the thick leatherbound volume that he  
kept with him, always. Very shortly, it would be published and distributed  
among. It would bring him riches, fame, chicks, things that a bookworm like   
himself might never know of. "Yes," he thought as he sighed again. He was  
near finished. But now, it was time to talk a walk.   
  
He closed the door, locking carefully making sure to lock the door  
tightly as he whistled to himself cheerfully. He was so preoccupied with  
thinking about the future that he paid no attention to the present, no  
attention to the dark form that sat in the alley next to his house, no   
attention to the plant-like tentacles that shot out to wrap around him,   
dragging his screaming body into the alley where he would never be seen   
again. 


End file.
